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The Huguenot -Walloon 
oo Tercentenary 


Vv 


rete Sein 


ANTONIA H. FROENDT 








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LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
PRINCETON. N. J. 


PRESENTED BY 


The Huguenot -\Walloon New Netherland Com. | 


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Division. A a 


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of 
HE HUGUENOT-WALLOON NEW 


NETHERLAND ComMISSION,. (Insti 
tuted by the Federal Council of the 
Churches of Christ in America), for the Celebra- 
tion of the 300th Anniversary of the Settling 
in New Netherland of Walloons (French and 
Belgian Huguenots) by the Dutch West India 
Company, in 1624, now, at the close of the 
‘Tercentenary Year, dedicates to its members and 





friends this simple memorial volume, prepared 
with a view solely toward putting into perma- 
nent form the record of the Tercentenary Cele- 
brations and their historical and religious signifi- 
cance for our nation. | 


By 


Antonia H. Froendt, Secretary 


1624 No 1924 


Na 


— 
As fi 





THE STORY OF THE HUGUENOT- 
WALLOON SET TEEMENG: 





THE SHIP NEW NETHERLAND 


(From James Grant Wilson’s “Memorial History of 
New York’’) 


7 NNIVERSARIES, in the history of a nation, as in 
_/ | the life of an individual, inspire recollections, pleasant 
_/ | or stirring, as the case may be, of those events which 
have become landmarks on the long road of progress, 
and we dwell with reverent regard on the memories 
of those other days and the people who figured in them. Such 
recollections are “the tribute which posterity pays to the illus- 
trious dead.” It is fitting therefore, in recording the various 
celebrations held in honor of the Huguenot-Walloon New Nether- 
land Tercentenary that we stop for a moment to survey briefly 
the historical environment surrounding the events we have been 
commemorating. 






THE EUROPEAN BACKGROUND 


Europe, three hundred years ago, presented a scene of chaos. 
The Thirty Years’ War had just begun. Spiritual ideals, lofty 
principles, the welfare of nations, religion itself seemed lost in 
a medley of conflicting interests, trodden under the feet of the 
warring armies that surged back and forth over almost the entire 
Continent. Against this background of storm and stress, in the 
shadow of its dominating personalities, it is difficult at first to 
discern the signs of a better age to come, when the final establish- 
ment of the Reformation should bring in its wake the priceless 
gifts of freedom of conscience and the beginning of political 
emancipation. And yet, such seeds of progress were already de- 
veloping. Even in the midst of the turbulent days before the 
storm broke, Europe, following on the heels of its explorers, was 
preparing for its conquest of the New World. The “forward 
look” was there. 


THE DAWN OF THE COLONIAL ERA—EARLY HUGUENOT COLONIES 





The little colony in whose fate we are so deeply interested was 
not an isolated fact, explained by some local disturbance in an 
insignificant corner of Europe; nor was it.a passing dissatisfaction 
with conditions, which drove people forth into dangers and hard- 
ships to seek new homes in a new world. A great impulse toward 
the West had set in among the European peoples, stirred to unrest 
by the religious and political upheavals of the period. The subject 
of colonization in the ‘““New Indies,” was very much a question of 
the day. As early as 1562, Admiral Coligny of France made an 
attempt to gain a foothold in America, and provide thereby a 
refuge for his fellow “heretics” whose long decades of martyrdom 
he foresaw only too clearly. Under Jean Ribaut, intrepid old 
Huguenot campaigner, one hundred and fifty men set out from 
Dieppe in “two Dutch 3-masters, small vessels of 117 and 60 
tons,” respectively, and “a large sloop, besides two smaller ones 
which were carried aboard the large vessels while at sea.” The 
expedition arrived safely at the mouth of the present St. John’s 
River, Florida, then named by the Huguenots “Ye Riuer Mai” 
after the date of its discovery. A stone column carven with the 
arms of France was erected and the flotilla cruised along the coast 
to investigate further sites for settlements. On what is now Parris 
Island (South Carolina), “Charlesfort,” a crude log stockade was 
built, which was eventually abandoned, but which had neverthe- 
less been constructed of such durable stuff that it was recently 
unearthed (all record of the location having been lost in the 
meantime), under the direction of General Eli K. Cole, by the 


3 


Marine Corps stationed on the island. A colony subsequently 
planted at “Fort Caroline” on the St. Johns River, was massacred 
to a man by the Spaniards, in 1565, after Ribaut’s fleet had been 
wrecked off the coast in a severe storm. 


Another protagonist of colonization was William the Silent, 
Stadtholder of the Netherlands, the “Liberator,” under whose 
leadership the “Eighty Years War” for freedom from Spanish 
overlordship was begun. His premature death by assassination 
prevented his taking any active part in the early colonial enter- 
prises, but he, the champion and protector of the Huguenots, 
pointed the way which was so successfully followed by his coun- 
trymen later on when Holland became one of the foremost of the 
colonizing nations. 


From the colonies of refugees always within her hospitable 
borders, the navigators of Holland readily drew adventurous 
recruits for their voyages of exploration and their colonial ex- 
periments. Usselinx, a Walloon who had settled in the Nether- 
lands, was a determined agitator for colonization in North 
America, and it was he who really formulated the plan on which 
the famous Dutch West India Company was organized in 1622, 
i.e., on the principle of combining trading and colonizing, the 
traders to open the way for the colonists, and the colonists to 
provide new markets for trade while enjoying a fair share of 
the resultant prosperity, a policy which was only imperfectly 
carried out, however. 





WILLIAM THE SILENT 


JESSE DE Forest 


In the meantime (about 1615) a band of Walloon refugees, 
who had fled from what is now Belgium and northern France,* 
settled in Leyden, the same city which sheltered the Pilgrims 
before their final emigration to America. The spirit of adventure 
was in the air. The sea called to the huddled groups of emigres, 
pent up in the crowded towns. All that was wanting to start 
them off was determined, purposeful leadership, and this was 
found in the person of Jesse de Forest, a French Walloon and a 
native of Avesnes, France, who rallied around him a sufficient 
number of his countrymen to encourage him to outline a definite 
plan for the emigration of his adherents, and their settlement as 
a separate colony, somewhere in “West India” as the two Americas 
were still called. On July 31, 1621, Jesse de Forest presented a 
- petition to the British Ambassador at The Hague, signed by fifty- 
six men, mostly heads of families, the whole number comprising 
two hundred and twenty-seven men, women and children, “as well 
Walloons as French, all of the reformed religion,” who desired to 
settle in Virginia under certain conditions set forth in the petition. 


These conditions, principally the one stipulating that the 
colonists should be permitted to retain their racial as well as their 
religious entity, proved unacceptable to the British Government 
and the Virginia Company and the project, for a time, was halted. 
Nothing daunted by this first set-back, however, the Walloons 
now carried their petition to the States of Holland and West 
Friesland, where they found a more sympathetic hearing for their 
plans. The time was indeed most propitious. The Dutch West 
India Company had just been formed, its stockholders were eager 
to make an experiment in colonization, and so Jesse de Forest was 
authorized “to enroll for the colonies all the families having the 
qualification . . . and to transport the same to the West 
Indies.”’ 


Tue New GUINEA EXPEDITION 


It now became necessary to make a preliminary survey of the 
territory, with a view to discovering an advantageous site for a 
first settlement, for it must be remembered that European notions 
of the western hemisphere were of the vaguest, and the claims 
of rival nations and trading companies overlapped to a consider- 
able extent, though in general, England modestly claimed every- 
thing that was west of Europe and east of Japan, and Spain did 
likewise. Possibly some word had by this time come back to 
Leyden of the sufferings of the Pilgrims who had gone on before 


* The “Walloon Provinces” comprise the French Departments of Nord, 
Aisne, Ardenne and Calais, and the Belgian Provinces of Hainaut, Namur, 
Liege, Brabant, and Luxembourg. 


5 





THE LANDING OF THE WALLOONS AT ALBANY 
(From Mrs. Lamb’s History of New York) 


(1620) to make their homes on the storm-beaten coast of New 
England, because when the scouting expedition in charge of the 
indomitable Jesse set forth on July 1, 1623, it turned south, 
making for what was known as the “Wild Coast,” now (roughly 
speaking ) New Guinea. The adventurous voyage was safely 
made, but Jesse de Forest never saw Leyden again. He had been 
seized by a malignant tropical fever, and died in New Guinea. 


THE SETTLEMENT OF NEw NETHERLAND 


The leader was dead, but his work went on. The Dutch West 
India Company decided to make a permanent settlement on the 
banks of the “Mauritius” (now Hudson) River, where some trad- 
ing stations were already established, and in March, 1624, thirty- 
two families “mostly Walloons,”’ embarked in the “new ship Nieu 
Nederland,” reaching their destination in May. Their landing 
was not altogether without incident. A small French sloop lay 
in the harbor, about to take possession of the land for the King 
of France, but her crew mistook the “Nieu Nederland,” which 
was accompanied by two smaller vessels, for the vanguard of a 
Dutch fleet, and hastily withdrew. 


Concerning the distribution of these colonists over the terri- 
tory then known as “New Netherland,’ nothing positive is 
recorded. It seems fairly certain, though, than most of them 
went up to Fort Orange, the present city of Albany, while, several 
found their way to Delaware and Connecticut, and a few were 
undoubtedly left on Manhattan Island, where a rough trading 
depot had already been constructed. It remains a mooted ques- 


6 


tion, therefore, whether this settlement also marked the founding 
of New Amsterdam which grew into the great metropolis of 
New York. Certainly it formed a nucleus of its now vast popu- 
lation. 


No list of names of the first thirty families has been preserved. 
Not until fifteen years have passed and New Amsterdam has in 
the meantime sprung up on Manhattan Island, do we find in 
legal and other documents surnames which figured in the original 
“round robin” drawn up by Jesse de Forest in 1621. Besides that 
of de Forest, we find such names as Corneille, Campion, Catoir, 
Damont, De Carpentier, De Croy, De Crenne, Du Four, De la 
Motte, Du Pon, De Trou, Gaspar, Chiselin, Gille, Lambert, Le 
Roy, Le Rou, Maton, Maryin. Sarah Rapalje is said to be the 
first girl born in the colony. In 1626, however, came Peter 
Minuit, the first Governor of New Netherland, and his secretary 
Isaac de Rasieres. Both were Walloons. The colony was now 
a duly organized province of the Netherlands, under the Latin 
name “Terra Nova Belgica.”’ The scattered settlements up and 
down the river, on the Connecticut and the Delaware, were con- 
solidated at New Amsterdam. 


THE Lost WALLOONS 


So obscure are the circumstances surrounding this first perma- 
nent Huguenot settlement on American soil, that the date of its 
consummation has been a bone of contention among historians. 
down to this very day. Succeeding waves of Dutch, French, German 
and Swedish immigrants, the subsequent absorption of the colony 
by the English, as well as the loss of most of the early records, 
have caused to lapse into forgetfulness the names and indeed the 
race of its founders. ‘Walloon’ is a term which will hardly be 
found in the modern textbook on American history. The repara- 
tion of this oversight, the filling in of this gap with the corrected 
data brought to light by modern research, is a task still to be 
accomplished. 


RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE 


In the ecclesiastical history of our country, this colony has the 
distinction of laying the foundations of the Reformed Church in 
America. The colonists were accompanied on their momentous 
journey by Jansen Krol, a lay chaplain provided for them by the 
Classis of Amsterdam. He faithfully conducted services all the 
way over, married four couples on shipboard (or so tradition 
says!) ; and on his arrival in Fort Orange instituted regular re- 
ligious services for the settlers. Nor did the Dutch West India 
Company itself fail to provide for the spiritual welfare of its 
emigrant flock. At the morning session of the Assembly of 


, 


Nineteen, March 28, 1624, “provisional 
conditions on which respective colo- 
nists are sent out to New Netherland 
in the service of the West India Com- 
pany to take their abode on the River 
of Prince Maurice (the Hudson) or at’ 
such other places as shall be assigned 
to them by the Commander and his 
Council,” for the government of the 
colonists who were to be enrolled the 
following day, were read and adopted. 
Article II of these provisions reads 





EMBLEM OF THE as follows: 
REFORMED CHURCH 
IN AMERICA “Within their territory they 
(Arms of William the Silent shall only worship according 


and Ecclesiastical Pillars) to the true Reformed Religion, 


as it is done within this country, 
(Holland), at present, and by a good Christian life they shall 
try to attract the Indians and other blind persons to the knowl- 
edge of God and his Word, without however committing any 
religious persecution, but freedom of conscience shall be left 
to every one, but if any one of them, or if any one within 
their territory shall intentionally curse or speak blasphemy 
against the name of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, he shall 
be punished by the Commander and his Council according to 
circumstances.” 


The italicized words in the passage quoted above embody a 
sentiment which was revolutionary for that age, but which 
eventually became the rock on which our great Republic of today 
was founded. Neither Pilgrim nor Puritan possessed so broad a 
spirit of tolerance. The Reformation had come to the Nether- 
lands by the Huguenot gate and in turn they passed on to the 
New World, by the hands of these first Huguenot settlers, the 
torch of religious freedom. 


Sidney Lee, the English man of letters, in an article published 
in Scribner’s for June, 1907, says this: 


“Tt was in the Huguenot spirit that the Puritans of England. 
when penal legislation drove them from their homes, leoked to 
America for protection and salvation. The vision of religious 
liberty in the new world was a Huguenot creation. It was slow 
to acquire stern enough sway over the minds of the Englishmen 
to move them to action. But under stress of events the ex- 
periences of English Puritans fell into closer agreement with 
those of the French Huguenots. Then the word written and 
spoken in France of the Calvinist colonies did penetrating work 
in England. The beginnings of New England were cast in the 
Huguenot mould. The great American project of Puritan Eng- 
land differed from the French schemes in Brazil and Florida 


8 


neither in motive nor in principle, but in practical achievement 
and enduring triumph. From the colonial failures of Protestant 
France followed the colonial success of Protestant England.” 
Bancroft writes: “He that will not honor the memory of 
John Calvin knows little of the origin of American liberty.” 





STATUE OF COLIGNY AT PARIS 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


General 


THE ICONOGRAPHY OF MANHATTAN ISLAND, 1498-1909. Com- 
piled from Original Sources and illustrated by Photo-Intaglio Repro- 
ductions of Important Maps, Plans, Views and Documents in Public 
and Private Collections. Volume IV. By I. N. Phelps Stokes, New 
York. Robert H. Dodd. Out of Print, copy found in New York 
Public Library. 


THE YEAR BOOK OF THE HOLLAND SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 


THE FRENCH BLOOD IN AMERICA. By Lucian J. Fosdick, pub- 
lished by The Gotham Press. Price, $3.00. 


THE HUGUENOTS OF AMERICA. By Henry M. Baird, published 
by Scribner’s. Out of print, copies in most of the Libraries. 


THE BI-CENTENARY OF THE REVOCATION OF THE EDICE 
OF NANTES. Published by the Huguenot Society of America. 
Price, $5.00. 


MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS IN AMERICA. By Ammon 
Stapleton, D.D. (Tercentenary Edition). Price, $4.00. 


FAMOUS PLACES OF THE REFORMED CHURCHES. By James 
I. Good, D.D., Heidelberg Press, 1910. Price, $1.50. 


FAMOUS REFORMERS. By James I. Good, D.D., Heidelberg Press. 
MANUAL OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA. By C. E. 
Corwin. 


HANDBOOK OF FRENCH AND BELGIAN PROTESTANTISM. 
By Louise Seymour Houghton. By the Federal Council of the 
Churches of Christ in America, 1919. Price, $1.00. 


Published for the Tercentenary 


A WALLOON FAMILY IN AMERICA. By Mrs. Robert W. de Forest, 
published by Houghton Mifflin Company, 1914, 2 volumes. This work 
contains the Jesse de Forest Journal. Price, $5.00. 


THE HUGUENOT-WALLOONS. At Home, in Lands of Exile and 
in America (1544-1700). By William Elliott Griffis, D.D. Price, $2.00. 

THE DE FORESTS AND THE WALLOON FOUNDING OF NEW 
AMSTERDAM. By Lucy Garrison Green. 


THE BELGIANS AS FIRST SETTLERS IN NEW YORK. By Prof. 
Henry G. Bayer. 


JESSE DE FOREST. By Robert W. de Forest, published by the National 
Huguenot-Walloon New Netherland Commission. Price, 25 cents. 


THE TERCENTENARY OF NEW YORK CITY IN 1924. ‘By Louis 
Effingham de Forest, published by the National Huguenot-Walloon 
New Netherland Commission. Price, 50 cents. 


THE HUGUENOT CROSS. By Rev. John Baer Stoudt. Price, 25 cents. 
10 


THE HUGUENOT-WALLOON NEW NETHER- 
LAND COMMISSION, INCORPORATED 


Instituted by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ 

in America for the celebration of the 300th anniversary of 

the settling in New Netherland of Walloons (French and 

Belgian Huguenots), by the Dutch West India Company, 
in the spring of 1624. 


tiyyy|N CONSTITUTING the membership of the Commis- 

77) sion, an effort was made to make it truly representa- 
tive, not only of the threefold racial interest of the 
Tercentenary—Walloon, French, and Dutch—and of 
its religious aspect, but also of its civic significance— 
local, national, and international. This was achieved first of all 
-in the acceptance of honorary chairmanship by the President of 
the United States (successively by the late President Harding and 
by President Coolidge), the Queen of the Netherlands, the King 
of the Belgians, and the President of France (first by President 
Millerand, then by President Doumergue). The Chairman of 
the Executive Committee, Dr. Macfarland, on personally pre- 
senting this matter, in 1922, in the three European countries most 
concerned, was very graciously received by these heads of govern- 
ments and found the warmest interest in the plan to celebrate in 
some fitting way the significant events of three centuries ago 
which were destined to have such a far-reaching effect on the 
shaping of the American nation. The messages from the Com- 
mission and the answers from the chief executives respectively 
of Holland, Belgium and France, will be found elsewhere in this 
volume. 


The Commission was fortunate in securing as its Chairman, 
Robert W. de Forest, Vice President of the American Red Cross, 
and a direct descendant of the indomitable Jesse de Forest, the 
organizer of the colony, whose momentous journey to the New 
World has been the subject of these Tercentenary celebrations. 
Nor was his chairmanship a perfunctory one. Most of the meet- 
ings of the executive group had the benefit of his wise counsel 
and the inspiration of his presence. In the arrangement and 
carrying out of the program he took an active part. 

The Chairman of the Executive Committee, Rev. Charles S. 
Macfarland, was the liaison officer in the Commission’s dealings 
with the twenty-eight great Protestant bodies composing the 
Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. As Gen- 
eral Secretary of that body Dr. Macfarland secured representatives 
on the Commission from most of the church bodies, as well as 
religious organizations such as the American Bible Society, the 
Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A. Through his personal con- 


nections with the religious leaders abroad, he helped to arouse to 


it 





effective action the interest of the church federations in France, 
Belgium, Switzerland, and the Waldensian groups in northern 
Italy, so that national committees were formed in these countries 
to cooperate in the subsequent “Huguenot Pilgrimage” a descrip- 
tion of which will be found in a separate chapter. In Holland, 
the Leyden Pilgrim Fathers Society was enlisted to the same end. 

A very happy “find” on the part of the Commission, was the 
discovery that a direct descendant of Gaspard de Coligny, cham- 
pion of the Huguenots, was living in this country. Col. W. 
Gaspard de Coligny, soldier and writer, besides taking the keenest 
active interest in the events of the Tercentenary, became the Chair- 
man of the Advisory Committee. 


The plan of an adequate commemoration of the Huguenot- 
Walloon New Netherland Tercentenary by religious and civic 
bodies was first brought to the attention of the Federal Council 
by the Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania, and it was therefore 
peculiarly appropriate that its President, Rev. John Baer Stoudt, 
should be chosen as the Director of the Commission to mobilize 
for the program of the Commission the Huguenot, historical, 
patriotic and civic societies throughout the country. The organ- 
izations having official representation on the Commission will be 
found listed on page 20. Besides such representative members, 
the Commission was increased by “members-at-large,’ among 
whom were a number bearing names distinguished in our early 
colonial history, and several who were direct descendants of the 
original thirty-two families forming the Huguenot-Walloon colony 
of 1624. 


NATIONAL RECOGNITION 


Knowing that the Tercentenary exercises themselves must nec- 
essarily be local in character and that relatively only a small pro- 
portion of the whole population could attend them, the Commission 
bent its energies to securing such recognition of the historic 
significance of this anniversary by the U. S. Government as 
would not only spread the story of the Tercentenary all over the 
nation but would result in lasting memorials for all those inter- 
ested. 


THE HUGUENOT-WALLOON MEMORIAL COIN AND THE 
TERCENTENARY STAMPS 


The first of these tangible expressions of tribute to the Wal- 
loon pioneers of 1624 was the striking of the Huguenot-Walloon 
Memorial Half Dollar by the U. S. Treasury Department; the 
second was the issuing of three special memorial stamps by the 
U. S. Post Office Department, the Commission in each case 
furnishing the designs. 


12 


< 


In selecting subjects for these 
designs, the guiding thought was to 
include as much of the three-fold 
significance of the Tercentenary as 
possible—religious, historic, and 
racial. The memorial coin shows 
on its obverse side the profiles of 
two great Huguenot leaders—Wil- 
THE NEW NETHERLAND STAMP liam the Silent of Holland, and his 

friend and ally, Admiral Coligny, 

of France—both of whom were deeply interested in projects for 
the colonization of the New World. The reverse bears the ship 
“Nieu Nederland,” the sturdy Dutch vessel which carried the first 
boatload of Huguenot-Walloons from their refuge in the Nether- 
lands on that memorable voyage across the as yet little known 
and much feared ocean. Of the stamps, it is the green one-cent 
stamp which again displays the gallant little ship and acknowledges 
the debt of gratitude which the 
Huguenots owed to the Netherlands 
for the protection they enjoyed 
there in the days of persecution. 
The red two-cent stamp is dis- 
tinctively Walloon in spirit. It 
shows the landing of the Walloons 
at Albany (their first settlement), 
and introduces to the public, which 
has had little knowledge of them 
heretofore, a new racial element in THE WALLOON STAMP 
our colonial period. The drawing 
used as the basis for the design was found in an old history of New 
York, now many years out of print. Huguenot in character is 
the five-cent stamp, which carries the message of the Tercen- 
tenary around the world. On it is a drawing of the Ribaut monu- 
ment at Mayport, Florida, whose dedication in the Tercentenary 
year (May 2, 1924), was one of the outstanding features of the 
local celebrations. 








New York STATE 


The Governor of New York, the 
Hon. Alfred E. Smith, expressed 
the great interest of the State of 
New York in the anniversary by a 
special proclamation, reproduced in 
facsimile on another page in this 
volume. An account of the Albany 
THE RIBAUT STAMP celebration is given on a later page. 


13 





THe TERCENTENARY HISTORIAN 


It will be recalled that in the spring of 1923, when this Com- 
mission first announced its program for the celebration of the 
Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary, a great deal of discussion, some 
of it rather acrimoniously argumentative, was evoked over the. 
contemplated date of the anniversary—1924. The Commission | 
in its literature, has avoided entering into this historical conflict, 
confining itself to the statement of such facts as leading historians 
considered incontrovertible. The date fixed upon for the exercises, 
both as to year and month, was the most accurate according to the 
data then available. It is quite possible that some rectification, 
chronologically, may become necessary in the future, but this will 
not diminish the glory of the Walloon achievement, nor affect 
materially the main facts of their story. Recent publications of 
old MSS (such as the Huntington MS) have tended to confirm 
1624 as the correct date for the arrival of the Huguenot-Walloon 
settlers in New Netherland. 


In order to have an authoritative historical account to precede 
the commemorative gatherings in the spring of 1924, the Commis- 
sion was glad to avail itself of the opportunity to appoint as its 
historian Dr. William Elliott Griffis, writer, historian and lecturer. 
In his book, written specially for the Tercentenary, “The Hugue- 
not-Walloons,” he has not only set down most of the data avail- 
able at the date of publication in 1923, but has also woven into 
his story much of the lovable tradition and romance which sur- 
rounds the early days of New Netherland. 


A condensed, but very scholarly, account of the Huguenot- 
Walloon Colony is contained in Major Louis Effingharn de 
Forest’s monograph, “The Tercentenary of New York City in 
1924,” published by the Commission. 


SUMMARY 


The general significance and import of the Tercentenary cele- 
brations are well summed up in Dr. Macfarland’s address at May- 
port (see page 31), it remains only to say that the distribution 
of this memorial volume among universities and public libraries 
will further aid in making a part of our national history the facts 
concerning the Walloon settlement of New Netherland which 
these Tercentenary celebrations have brought to public notice. 

The Commission is deeply indebted to its Director, Dr. Stoudt, 
first of all for the conception and initiation of the idea of the 
Tercentenary celebrations, and his service in bringing to light 
historical events of great significance which had been lost to 
view, and for his untiring service in the practical realization of 
the Tercentenary program. 


14 


IN MEMORIAM 


The Commission records with deep regret the pass- 
ing of five of its members before the consummation of 
the work to the success of which they had bent their 
efforts : 


THE HON. JOHN WANAMAKER, one of the 
first members of the Commission and its first Patron, 
after the Chairman, Mr. de Forest; 


THE REV. JAMES I. GOOD, representative of 
the Reformed Church in the United States, who assisted 
materially in rousing interest among the pastors of that 
denomination on behalf of the Tercentenary ; 


MRS. FLORENCE MURPHY COOLEY, chair- 
man of the Ribaut Committee of Florida, who first 
suggested to the Florida D. A. R. the propriety of 
erecting a monument to the memory of Ribaut, and 
under whose supervision the task was so effectively 
accomplished ; 


COL. GEORGE P. LAWTON,’ representa- 
tive of the Society of 
Colonial Wars in the 
State of New York, to 
whose good offices in se- 
curing the cooperation of 
state and municipal au- 
thorities the Commission 
is greatly indebted ; 
THE HON. PIERRE 
MALI, Belgian Consul 
General in New York, an 
influential and loyal 
friend of the Commis- 





THE HON. PIERRE MALI sion, and who worked 
Late Consul General of Belgi ae fan 
REARS t Sestak dea untiringly in its behalf. 


OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES — 


Honorary Chairmen 
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 


H. M. THE QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS 
H. M. THE KING OF THE BELGIANS 
His EXcELLENCY, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 





Honorary Vice-Chairmen 
BARON DE CARTIER DE MARCHIENNE Hon. ALFRED FE, SMITH 


Hon. JuLes J. JUSSERAND Hon. WILLIAM PHILLIPS 
Hon. A. D. C. DE GRAEFF Hon. HERBERT HOOVER 
Hon. RicHArp N. Tosin Hon. BRAND WHITLOCK 


Advisory Committee 
Cot, WILLIAM GASPARD DE COoLicNy, Chairman 


Pror. A. J. BARNOUW J. JOHNSTON MALI 
HAMILTON HOoLt J. PERRET 

Hon. J. B. HUBRECHT Hon. GIFForp PINCHOT 
Hon. GASTON LIEBERT Rev. HENry VAN DYKE 
Hon. Pierre MALI (deceased) Hon. JoHN R. VooruHIS 


Hon. Cary A. HARDEE 


Officers 


Ropert W. DE FOREST 
Chairman General Commission 


Rev. CHARLES S. MACFARLAND 
Chairman Executive Committee 


Vice-Chairmen 


Hon. T. W. Bacot Hon. J. S. FRELINGHUYSEN 
Hon. Howarp R. BAYNE JoHN L. MERRILL 

WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN Hon. WILLIAM J. SCHIEFFELIN 
Rr. Rev. JAMes H. DARLINGTON Dr. Ropert E, SPEER 


Executive Committee 


Tunis G. BERGEN C. V. HisBarp 

Rev. W. I. CHAMBERLAIN Dr. GeorGE F, Kunz 

Louis E. bE Forest Cot. GEoRGE P. Lawton (deceased) 
Dr. Joun H. FINLEY Miss SAarAH LYON 

Rev. JAMES H. FRANKLIN Dr. JoHN R. Mott 

Rev. SIpNEY L. GULICK Rev. FRANK Mason NortH : 
Rev. WILiiAMmM I. Haven Rev. GeEorGE W. RICHARDS 


Rev. JAMES I. VANCE 


ALFRED R. KIMBALL 
Treasurer 


Rev. JOHN BAER STOUDT 
Director 


Miss ANTONIA H. FROENDT 
Secretary 


16 


Rosert W. ve Forest Rev. Caries S. MacraRLAND 
Chairman General Commission Chairman Executive Committee 


Rev. Joun Baer Stoupr = = —- Cot. W.. Gasparp be Coticny 
Director S Chairman Advisory ‘Committee 





MEMBERS 


Mrs. ANSON ATTERBURY 

Levi A. AULT 

Hon. T. W. Bacor 

Dr. GEORGE FALES BAKER 
Pror. A. J. BARNoUW 

Rey. ALLEN R, BARTHOLOMEW 
Hon. THomAs F, BAYARD 
Hon. Howarp R. BAYNE 
Rev. SYLVESTER W, BEACH 
HENRY HARPER BENEDICT 
Tunis G. BERGEN 

FRED T. BoNTECOU 

Dr. HERBERT L. BRIDGMAN 
W.R. Britton 

Rev. ARTHUR J. BROWN 

Rev. F. W. BuRNHAM 
CHARLES NEWTON CANDEE 
Rev. SAMUEL MCCREA CAVERT 
Rev. W. I. CHAMBERLAIN 
ReEv. SAMUEL H,. CHESTER 
Rey. FRANcIs E. CLARK 

Hon. ALPHONSO CLEARWATER 
Miss CATHERINE P. CLIVETTE 
WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN 
GENERAL ELI K. Coie 

Mrs. JAMES C, COLGATE 

Mrs. FLoreENcE M. Coo.tey (deceased ) 
CHARLES E. Corwin 

Mrs. JAMES A. CRAIG 

Rev. W. STUART CRAMER 

R. FULTON CUTTING 

Rt. Rev. JAMES H. DARLINGTON 
WILLIAM T. Davis 

Louts P. DE BoER 

BARON DE CARTIER DE MARCHIENNE 
Cot. W. GASPARD DE COLIGNY 
Louis E. DE ForEST 

Ropert W. DE ForREST 

Hon. A. D. C. DE GRAEFF 
Pres. W. H. S. DEMAREST 
Hon. CHAUNCEY DEPEW 

Rey. PAUL DE SCHWEINITZ 
EDWARD DE WITT 

Dr. Howarp DUFFIELD 
HERBERT DUPUY 

Mrs. Wricut P. EpGERTON 
Dr. SAMUEL A. ELior 

Rev. PAUL D. ELSESSER 
WILLIAM PHELPS ENO 

W. VAN RENSSELAER ERVING 
R. DoucLass EWELL 

Hon. Epwarp R. FINCH 
Hon. JoHN H. FINLEY 
ERNEST FLAGG 

Lucian J. Fospick 

Mrs. Lucian J, Fospick 


Rev. WILLIAM H, FouLkeEs 
Rev. J. H. FRANKLIN 

ALDEN FREEMAN 

Hon. J. S, FRELINGHUYSEN 
ALGERNON S, FRISSELL 

Miss ANTONIA H, FROENDT 
Rev. Henry D., Frost 
WILLIAM B. GAILLARD 

Hon. F, D. GALLATIN 

Hon. Frep. B. GERNERD 

C. M. GorETHE 

Rev. WILLIAM ELLioTT GRIFFIS 
Rev. SIDNEY L. GULICK 
HAGAMAN HALL 

Hon. Cary A. HARDEE 

Hon. GILpert D. B. Hasprouck 
Rev. WILLIAM I, HAVEN 
Mrs. JOSEPHINE HEATHCOTE 
Mrs. A. BARTON HEPBURN 

C. V. HiBBARD 

Pror. ARTHUR H. HirsH 
HAMILTON HOLT 

Hon. HErBert C, Hoover 
Hon. J. B. Husrecut 

A. E. HUNGERFORD 

Rev. JAMES Boyp HUNTER 
HENryY E. HUNTINGTON 
PHOENIX INGRAHAM 

Hon. JULEs J. JUSSERAND 
ALFRED R, KIMBALL 

W. F. H. Koetscu 
CorRNELIUS G, KoLFr 

Dr. GeorGE F, Kunz 

Co. GEoRGE P. LAwton (deceased) 
Mrs. Georce P, LAwTon 
CHARLES W. LENG 

Mrs. RicHArpD V. LINDABURY 
Hon. WALTER F. LINEBERGER 
Rev. FREDERICK LYNCH ~ 
Miss SARAH Lyon 

Hon. GASTON LIEBERT 

Rev. CHARLES S, MACFARLAND 
Mrs. MAry P. MACFARLAND 
Rev. TH. D. MALAN 

J. JOHNSTON MALI 

Hon. Pierre Matti (deceased) 
REUBEN LESLIE MAYNARD 
REGINALD L. MCALL 

Rey. H. G. MENDENHALL 
JOHN LEONARD MERRILL 

Rev. GEORGE R. MONTGOMERY 
THOMAS MONTGOMERY 

Rev. JoHN M. Moore 

Mrs. Puixtie N. Moore 
Davip MOREHOUSE 

Dr. JoHN R. Morr 


MEMBERS 


JosEPpH A, NASH 

Mrs. H. S. PRENTISS NICHOLS 
Mrs. R. ARMSTRONG NIEHAUS 
Rey. FRANK MASON NorTH 
Mrs. Mary L. Norton 

J. PERRET 

Capt. N. TAYLOR PHILLIPS 
Hon. WILLIAM PHILLIPS 
Hon. GIFFoRD PINCHOT 

Rev. W. W. PINSON 

Dr. WILLIAM PRALL 

Miss RutH PuTNAM 

DANIEL RAVENEL 

Hon. Davin A. REED 

-W. A. HERBERT REIDER 

Rev. GeorGcE W., RICHARDS 
JosEPH D, SAWYER 

Rev. C. E. SCHAEFFER 

Cort. ARTHUR F, SCHERMERHORN 
Hon WILLIAM J. SCHIEFFELIN 
Morcan H. SEAcorD 

Mrs. Louis LivINGSTON SEAMAN 
Mrs. E. G. SEWELL 

Pror, CAROLINE SHELDON 
Cot. Henry W. SHOEMAKER 
Hon. ALFRED E.' SMITH 

Rev. FRANK C. SMITH 

Dr. Ropert E. SPEER 


JoHN B. STETSON 

Rev. JoHN BArER Stouptr 

Mrs. Evizasetu A. Stoupt 
Hon. R. BEAVER STRASSBURGER 
Mrs. THEODORE STRAWN 
WILLIAM H. TAYLorR 

Mrs. CHARLES E, TEFFT 

Mrs. WILLIAM F. THACHER 
Rev. WortH M. Tippy 

Hon. RicHarp N. Topin 
FENNELL P. TURNER 

Rev. JAMES I, VANCE 

Miss Mase, VAN DuSEN 

Rev. HENRY VAN DYKE 

Rev. TERTIUS VAN DYKE 

Rev. JOHN VAN SCHAICK 
WILLIAM GorDON VER PLANCK 
Hon. AvBert H. VESTAL 

Miss KATHERINE K, VIELE 
Hon. JoHN R. Vooruts 

Isaac H. VrRooMAN, JR. 

Cot. JOHN W.,.VRoOMAN 

Rev. FLoRIAN VURPILLOT 

Hon. JOHN WANAMAKER (deceased ) 
Rey. GEorGE S. WEBSTER 

Hon. Branp WHITLOCK 
ARTHUR T. WILLIAMS 

Moritz WorMSER 


THE HUGUENOT CROSS 





“LHe CHURCH UNDER THE CROSS” 


COOPERATING ORGANIZATIONS 


List of cooperating societies in addition to those represented 
in the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America: 

Huguenot Society of America. 

Huguenot Society of South Carolina. 

Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania. 

Huguenot Society of New Jersey. 

Huguenot Society of New Rochelle. 

Historical Society of the Reformed Church in the U. S. 

Holland Society of New York. 

Society of the Daughters of the Holland Dames. 

St. Nicholas Society. 

Historical Society of Staten Island. 

Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences. 

Daughters of the American Revolution. 

Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New York. 

American Scenic and Historic Site Preservation Society. 

N. Y. State Historical Association. 

Society of the Founders of Manahkin. 

Albany Tercentenary Committee. 

Huguenot Tercentenary Committee of New Paltz, N. Y. 

Monmouth County Historical Association. 

Tercentenary Committee of New Oxford, Mass. 

Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 

American Numismatic Association. 


EUROPEAN ORGANIZATIONS 


Société de l’Histoire du Protestantisme Frangais. 
Société d’Histoire du Protestantisme Belge. 
National Tercentenary Committee of Belgium. 
The Leyden Pilgrim Society. 

Huguenot Society of London. 

French Protestant Federation. 

The Waldensian Synod. 

Société Jean Calvin. 

The Swiss Evangelical Church Federation. 


20 


(uIsnyy 


Vv 


© 


ystqie adeosourieu ueisjog 24} Aq Surljured e wor) 


«LiOd NOIAXYOA V NI CNVTaYAHCHN NOYIN, AHL, 





21 





CALVIN COOLIDGE 
President of the United States 


THE WHITE HOUSE 
WASHINGTON 


September 27, 1925. 


My dear Destor stouat: 


z soe received, with much pleasure, your invi- 
tation te aecest the Honorary Presidensy of the ib tional 
Fusuenct<! seriace Rerc aipernd | Commission, in succession 
to the late President Harding. I imow of the Lively 
mieres$ which p6. felt in: os Soibns vor this tereentenary 








eeletration, anc have, for myseli, eatertcined a similar 
interest in nf OF the project. It has ‘boon particularly 
interesting to mow that, ss part of the rogram of 
Observance, it is prorosed to conduct a Husuenot piisrimarce 
to Surope by descendants of the early masbers of the 

_. Hugnuenot-Valloon colony. very suck effort st reviving end 
Maintaining the interest of our people im the story of our 
national beginnings is osleulated to the prometion of the 
truest patriotism. 


I heve, therefore, the utmost vleasare in sccept- 
ing your iuvitation to the Honorary Fresidency, snd in 
Simnifying this, I wish to express my hope that all your 
anticipations of gsratifyine results fron the tercentenary 
eelebration may be reslized. 


Most sincerely yours, 


> Ff 
se Ror ST ee 

ren ae \ 
f “in ae 4 : : Le é 
ae GA ged ae: Le a aay a ; 

nev. Join Baer Stoudt, 2 

Ghe Rationsl Huguenot-valloon, 

New Uethsriand Comission, 


105 EH. 22nd Street, 
New York City. ( 


PRESIDENT. COOLIDGE’S |LETTER ACCEPTING HONORARY 
CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE COMMISSION 


23 





WARREN G. HARDING 
Late President of the United States 


24 





PRESIDENT HARDING’S LETTER ACCEPTING HONORARY 
CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE COMMISSION 


25 





‘The Queen’s Message 


To Dr. MACFARLAND: ae 


Receive my thanks for the attention you have paid me, in presenting 
me personally with the message of the Huguenot-Walloon Commission. 


Your visit affords me the opportunity of testifying to the great interest 
I take in the commemorative celebration of the settlement of the Walloons 
in your country. 


[ thank you for the words you spoke regarding the indissoluble links 
which unite my country and the United States,—a unity rooted in the 
principles of faith and liberty which the settlers brought with them from 
The Netherlands. : 

For these and many other reasons it would be of great interest to me 
to find, some day, the opportunity of visiting your country. 


Accept my very best wishes for the success of the commemorative 
festivities and for the Huguenot-Walloon Commission especially. 


26 





Palais de Bruxelles, 
Brussels, the 15th of February, 1923. 


Rev. JoHN BAER Stoupt, 

Director of the National Huguenot-Walloon Commission, 
New York. 

My dear Dr. Stoudt: 

It was a matter of gratification to me to hear that plans were being 
made in the United States for the Tercentenary Celebration of the landing 
of the Pilgrim Fathers of Huguenot-Walloon origin. 

Belgium wishes to participate in the commemoration of this remarkable 
event and to pay tribute to the wise and fearless contribution of her sons 
to the founding on the shores of the Hudson of one of the greatest and 
most prosperous cities in the world. 

My fellow citizens deeply appreciate the interest taken in this celebra- 
tion which can only strengthen the bonds of friendship existing between 
our two countries. 

I welcome this opportunity to extend the expression of my personal 
sympathy and of the wishes which we all heartily form for its welfare 


and prosperity. 


Believe me, my dear Dr. Stoudt, 
Yours sincerely, 


iH 








PRESIDENT MILLERAND OF FRANCE 


The Letter of Ambassador Jusserand 


DEAR SIR: 


Referring to previous correspondence, I beg to say that I have just 
received an answer to the cable I had sent to my Government and I am 
glad to inform you that President Millerand accepts with great pleasure 


the patronage of the Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary commemoration. 


Believe me, 
Sincerely yours, 
JUSSERAND. 


Washington, December 16, 1922. 


(C4pnojg savg uyor ‘aay “favs ap *) °C “PR “MO ‘auuaryoavpy ap 4a44v7 ap uoavg 
punjivjmvy “S Sajavyy “aay “quapisadd ay. puvdassne “f Sajneg “UoH ‘paofAabuny “gq “Pp ‘uosyoyy, ‘OC "aay :4yb1s 03 4fa] worz) 
‘peor ‘Iz AYVNATAA ‘NOLONIHSVM 
NOISSINWOO HHL dO SYHOIAO Ad AOAITOOO LNACISaad OL UVTIOd AIVH LONANONA AO NOILVINASAAd 





29 





THE RIBAUT MEMORIAL AT MAYPORT, FLORIDA 


This monument reproduces the original marker bearing the arms of France set up by 
Jean Ribaut at this point in 1562; erected by the Florida Daughters of the American 
Revolution, under the direction of Mrs. Florence M. Cooley and Mrs. James A. Craig. 





THE REMAINS OF JEAN RIBAUT’S STOCKADE : 


at Parris Island, S. C., showing section of moat. The original cedar logs composing 

the fort were excavated by U. S. Marines stationed on the Island, under the direction 

of General Eli K. Cole, Commandant of U. S. Marine Corps at Parris Island. Concrete 
markers distinctly show the lines of the old fortifications. 


30 


THES TERGENTENAR Y= CELEBRATIONS 


UNDAY, April 27, 1924, was the opening date of the 
Huguenot-Walloon New Netherland Tercentenary 
observances in this country. As the Huguenot-Wal- 
loons sought the new World, inspired by a religious 
motive, it was fitting that the exercises commemorat- 





ing the 300th aniversary of their coming should be inaugurated 
by religious observances in the American Churches. In many 
cases the entire morning service was devoted to the Tercentenary. 


FLORIDA 


The initial civic functions of the Tercentenary took place at 
Mayport, Fla., on May 1, under the auspices of the Florida 
Daughters of the American Revolution. The occasion was the 
unveiling of the Ribaut Memorial, marking the spot at or near 
which landed the first Huguenot colonists, sent out by Admiral 
Coligny in 1562 under the command of Jean Ribaut, the first 
colonial enterprise to these shores, of which any record has been 
preserved. 

The new monument is a replica of the marker set up by 
Ribaut. Erected on a hillock (the only eminence for miles 
around), the plain hexagonal shaft of stone, 12 feet in height, 
bearing the old 16th century arms of France, those of the 
D. A. R. and a bronze shield telling the story of the lost colony, 
has a commanding position, visible from the St. John’s River, 
the country for several miles around, and from the Atlantic. 

The Florida Committee was fortunate in having present to 
unveil the monument Colonel William Gaspard de Coligny, whose 
distinguished ancestor, Gaspard de Coligny, was the originator 
of this colonial enterprise at “Ye Riuer Mai.” 

The chief address on the program was that of Rev. Charles 
S. Macfarland, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the 
Huguenot-Walloon Commission, who dedicated the monument. 
In a stirring speech, often interrupted by applause, he pointed 
out the significance of the early attempt at Mayport to found 
a refuge for the oppressed, on American shores. 


Dr. MACFARLAND’S ADDRESS 


“Among the enduring values of such events as this Ter- 
centenary is the occasion which it offers us to review our national 
life; to evaluate its moral and spiritual possessions; to follow 
the course over which it has passed in the attainment of its higher 
ideals and to search back and rediscover those fundamental prin- 
ciples upon which its foundations have been laid. 


31 


“T shall, therefore, ask you to traverse with me today, the path 
which our American Nation has trod in order that we may first 
witness the enduring nature of the work and life of the Huguenots 
and the Walloons. Such a review of history is essential in order 
to pay fitting tribute to those who laid the foundations three 
hundred years ago, as we express to you, their sons and daughters, 
the deepened gratitude which we have come to feel for what they 
did and what they dared to do. 

“When, in the course of human events, the story of America 
comes to be written in the undiminished and clarified light of 
historical perspective, it will be marked by four great and dis- 
tinct epochs, all shadowed and hallowed by great conflicts, their 
issues born of righteous judgments and determination and their 
ends attained by human suffering and sacrifice. 

“The first of these great eras was that of the nation’s birth. 
The issue of that consecrated hour of the world’s life was that of 
individual liberty and the structure of our nation rests upon the 
divine right of the individual human spirit, in the inviolable 
solitude of personality, to stand face to face with the divine 
reality; upon the imperial privilege of the human soul itself. 

“The first words of the Declaration of Independence were in- 
scribed on Plymouth Rock by Pilgrims and were boldly written 
all along our shore from North to South by the same Huguenot 
hands that had carved in the prison tower of Constance the im- 
mortal word ‘Resistez!’ 

“The conflict with which this era was marked was not only won 
with flesh and blood, but with the battles of uncharted seas, the 
stern resistance of hostile shores, was marked indelibly with dar- 
ing, with fortitude and with sublime faith, which forever broke 
the dominance of human masters with their boastful claims of a 
divine right to fetter and enslave the minds and souls of men. 

“The vital and the fundamental law of this first era of the 
nation’s history, lasting for a century and a half, was that to 
make a free nation you first must have free men. 

“The second of these great epochs were the days in which these 
free souls were formed into a free nation. Re-reading the history 
of those little colonies in the light of the issues then determined, 
comparing and contrasting them with the American nation as it is 
today, we witness the gradual translation of the Declaration of 
Independence into the Constitution of the United States, which 
has defied the assaults of a century and a half of human vicis- 
situdes. This second great era witnessed the establishment of an 
order of human society by which more than a hundred million 
people made up of men and women from all climes and: nations 
of the earth, have been able to live together in a body politic so 
constituted as to induce unity with liberty. It was the bringing 
forth not only of a new nation, but a new type of nation conceived 


32 


in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created 
equal. 

“The second great epoch was also associated with severe and 
bitter conflict, the War of American Independence. Its achteve- 
ment was that of liberty under law. 

“Then came the third great era of our national life, to test these 
eternal principles. Was a government of the people, for the 
people, by the people, equal to its task? Could it go on weaving 
the mantle of human freedom, large enough to cover the race? 

“Could the nation perpetuate individual liberty and yet preserve 
and maintain the integrity insured to it by the Declaration and the 
Constitution which was its sequel? Were these several states 
bound by the solemn seal and covenant of a consecrated compact 
to maintain that union in which alone there is the strength which 
alone can eternally maintain righteousness and truth? Could a 
nation of free souls live in unity under law? And the answer 


to that question today is one and the same in both North and 
South. 


The first epoch: The ideal of individual human free- 
dom 

The second epoch: The establishment of this human 
freedom under law 

The third epoch: The principle that freedom could 
endure only in the sacred and indivisible union 
of free souls 


“\nd now today, my friends, we are in the midst of the fourth 
great cra of our history. That era began in 1917 but it did not 
end in 1918; that was but the beginning of its profound issues. 

“These other three outstanding periods of our national ex- 
istence were mainly concerned with our own internal life. In 
the era upon which we have now entered, we are seeking to find 
and to establish some principle of human freedom which will ex- 
tend to the unity and the mutual duties of all the nations. The 
United States now faces her fourth great decision and it is no 
less significant than the other three: What is her place of duty, 
of opportunity, of service in the life and the order of the world 
of all mankind? 

“There are those who say, unthinkingly, that the political 
processes by which humanity seeks the unity in freedom which 
we established for ourselves in 1776, must stop at the boundary 
of national lines. They forget that even back in those rather 
shadowy days of 150 years ago, we had forecasts of those eternal 
principles of world unity now struggling for a right and just 
solution. They forget that the British Army was reinforced by 
Hessians. Those who are inclined to be contemptuous today 
towards peoples across the sea, now stretching forth their hands 


33 


and asking for our political help, seem to forget that away back 
in those early days, the American nation sent Benjamin Franklin 
to Paris on precisely that same errand, and that he returned with 
Lafayette and Rochambeau. It seems to have escaped their 
memory that again, in the days of 1861, when the cause of national 
unity seemed in danger of being lost because our internal con- 
flict interfered with other nations whose interests were involved, 
we sent our political emissaries, very much as Lord Robert Cecil 
has just come to us, to Great Britain, among them notably a man 
named Henry Ward Beecher with the open and avowed purpose 
of propaganda, in a true and lofty sense. These historic cir- 
cumstances are absolutely parallel, both in principle and fact. 
France and Great Britain, today, are doing exactly what we did 
ourselves in ’76 and ’61. 

“We are thus called today to answer the question as to whether 
or not the consecration of the nation at its birth into institutions 
of free constitutional government, its final seal and covenant in 
1861 confirming forever the freedom and unity of its own life, 
now lead us on by the inevitable path of law, of logic and of 
human experience to a new consecration to precisely these same 
principles in the constitution of the human order throughout the 
world. If these ideals are the principles on which a nation must 
be built, are they also the basis of a world order? Thus these 
eras pass from one into the other with ceaseless and unbroken 
march. 

“America in 1918 began to do her part to liberate the world. 
A great deal has been said, with truth, about the valor of our 
soldiers and yet it is rather an open secret that our contribution 
to the armed force of the allied powers was rather a moderate 
offering, for which our friends of France and Great Britain and 
Belgium have been very gracious in their computations. The 
real influence that the United States brought into the War was a 
moral influence and when the day of armistice had come, the 
United States stood where the world offered her an honorable 
place in its moral and its spiritual leadership. And then what 
happened? We had entered upon the field of battle, its devasta- 
tion we had shared, but we came back and we left our comrades 
on the other side of the sea to clear up all the wreckage of the 
battlefields. We are, my friends, still seeking and we shall yet 
find our way back. 

“About three years ago, it was my privilege to participate in 
two great moving scenes, which were so impressive that they be- 
came a part of my very life. They followed upon successive days. 
They were wonderfully suited to each other. Those experiences 
came to me as I followed the remains of the unknown soldier 
on its way to Arlington and heard our President as he offered 
our Lord’s Prayer at that sacred moment, and then the next day, 
as he stood before the assembled representatives of the other 


34 


nations and offered our hearty and unreserved service in the 
effort to solve their deeply perplexing problems. The Conference 
at Washington was our first step back towards the path of 
national opportunity and duty. I suspect few of our people know 
how momentous it was or what grave possibilities it averted. We 
must now find some way to do for all the world what we did 
then for part of it. 

“As I once passed out from the Assembly of the Nations in 
Geneva in the historic Hall of the Reformation, in company with 
one of the greatest statesmen and one of the finest spirits in the 
public life of the world today, we passed that picture so familiar 
to us all, of the young man standing before the Master with 
the title under it, “The Great Decision.’ This man stopped and 
as he pointed to it he said as his voice shook with deep emotion, 
“The Great Decision, America is in the process of making it 
today.’ 

“Thank God, our opportunity is still before us. On a beauti- 
ful September day last year, as I walked the banks of the 
peaceful lake in Switzerland with one of the most real and 
genuine statesmen in the world of affairs today, he pointed to the 
building from which we had just emerged and turning to me with 
a trembling voice said, ‘If that breaks down (I do not believe it 
will) but if that breaks down, your United States must bear the 
responsibility: for its failure. But on the other hand, were the 
United States here with us, that body could command the moral 
consent of the civilized world.’ 

“A few days later, in the beautiful French capital, after I had 
talked for a few moments with one of the great military leaders 
who had been expressing the hope of all Europe that some strong 
clear expression might come from across the sea from us, he 
turned to me and said with tears in his eyes, ‘If not, and Europe 
goes down with a mighty crash, a large measure of moral re- 
sponsibility will rest on America,’ and then with his face suddenly 
lighting up he said, ‘but, on the other hand, any reasonable and 
just proposal from your country could command the universal 
assent and compliance of mankind. Let the American Govern- 
ment say to the nations across the sea—We will sit down with 
you, all of us together, friend and foe, to determine together the 
just and righteous settlement of all our mutual problems—the 
response would be universal and light would break like the morn- 
ing sun.’ 

“That, my hearers, is where our nation stands today in the 
world’s esteem and life. To me it is a solemnizing thought. 

“My friends and fellow citizens, I have thus endeavored to 
interpret today the pathway which our nation has trod, to re- 
mind you that it has led us to this vision because our faces were 
set towards that light from the beginning. The structure has 
been enduring and has been reared erect to its lofty height, with- 


35 


out tottering, because its moral foundations were laid deep and 
strong by the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock, by the Walloons at 
the great center of our nation’s life; enduring foundations which 
extended to these southern shores where the brave Huguenots, 
by their earlier sacrifice, had led the way and had set here this 
symbol of liberty which we today restore and dedicate again. . 

“Here, upon these shores, under the inspiration of Gaspard de 
Coligny, was planted the first standard more than half a century 
before the coming of Pilgrim and Walloon. Menendez and his 
faithless ruler thought that they had put out the fire of liberty, 
but the volcano simply broke out again in other places on the 
northern shore. 

“Ribaut and his intrepid colonists were the pioneers of pioneers. 
They were the John the Baptists of Pilgrim and Walloon. 

“Year by year and generation after generation, foremost and 
frequent among the names that have shed lustre on our national 
history have been those of the Huguenots who followed them. 

“Thus Huguenot of France, Pilgrim of England and Walloon 
of Belgium, with the help of the liberty-loving men and women of 
Holland, have woven themselves enduringly into the structure of 
our national life. No one people of those making up our nation 
has exercised such influence down through the centuries as those 
found worthy to inherit their mantles. 

“They were not mere seekers of material gain through trade 
and commerce. They braved the seas seeking liberty; their 
impulses were deep and abiding because profoundly spiritual, they 
had been tried in the fires of persecution and they added a needed. 
touch of light and color to the sombre Puritans. 

“Daughters of the American Revolution, this touch of senti- 
ment upon your part was needed to complete the landscape as 
we approach America from across the sea. Today our coast line 
is marked by two beacons of liberty one at each extreme—the rock 
of the Pilgrims and this shaft restored in memory of the Hugue- 
nots, while in between them, within a few days, another sign and 
symbol will be reared in memory of their spiritual brothers, the 
Walloons. One year ago we only had one Plymouth Rock, today 
we have three Plymouth Rocks. 

“Tt is appropriate that a representative of the Churches of 
America should bring to you this message for here in America 
liberty was the gift of religion. American Evangelical Chris- 
tianity is one of many priceless gifts that have come to us from. 
France. This spot has a sacredness that is unique. Here we 
walk in the footsteps of the first of those who, on this continent,, 
died for the principle of that first epoch of our nation, the 
proposition that a free nation must be a commonwealth of free 
men. 

“But, my friends, let us do more today than to devote this 
monument to them. Let us dedicate ourselves, let us consecrate 


36 


our children and our children’s children. Let us kneel here before 
Almighty God, as they did and hallow our nation to that same 
spirit as our nation, today, faces its momentous responsibilities. 
to all mankind. 


“As we thus dedicate this shaft of liberty, if we yield our- 
selves to the better sentiments of the hour and give ourselves to 
its holy sanctions, releasing our hearts to its most sacred in- 
fluences, we shall feel ourselves lifted for a little out of the com- 
mon drudgery of life, our conscience will be searched, penetrated 
and explored, our hearts renewed, our feverish complaining ways 
composed, our sordid desires shamed, our hope deepened and our 
faith in God and humanity enlarged and quickened. We shall 
then best render our homage to those over whose fallen forms 
we have achieved our national heritage, by setting before our 
eyes the vision of their immortal ideals, as we remember that 
our life and liberty were bought with the price they paid. 


“Four great epochs in the life of a great nation. Each one of 
them leads and merges into its successor. And we are privileged 
to live in the greatest of those eras. The first great decision, that 
the human soul should eternally possess its freedom. The second 
great decision, that there should be a nation living in freedom 
under law. The third great decision, that it was the moral duty 
of a free people to live in unbroken. unity to maintain that free- 
dom under law. The fourth great decision, to accept humbly, 
reverently, without pharasaism, with the sense of a human weak- 
ness which reaches out for a divine strength, to accept moral 
leadership in a disordered world in obedience to the call of 
humanity, that the ideals which were a legacy to us, from those 
whose immortal spirits we can feel today upon this sacred spot, 
shall become the heritage of all mankind. 

“Never shall I forget the new life in that old war-worn human- 
ity across the sea when the word came to them at last—America 
is here! And those same shattered forces still await the word— 
America has come back again. 


The first great era: The freedom of the human soul 

The second great era: The assurance of that free- 
dom by law and constitution 

The third great era: Its maintenance in unity and 
union 


The fourth great era: The transmission of all of 
these eternal principles into the life of the world 


“Thank God, America was equal to the others. Will she now 
fail? God forbid. 


37 


‘Thy great world lesson all shall learn, 
The nations in thy school shall sit, 
Earth’s farthest mountain-tops shall burn 
With watch-fires from thy own uplit.’ 


“In yonder northern port, close to the spot where the Huguenot- 
Walloon Commission will soon erect the Walloon memorial from 
brave little Belgium, there stands a massive figure appropriately 
sculptured by a son of France, a modern Huguenot by name 
Bartholdi. God grant that it may ever be a veracious symbol of 
America: The eternal light of Liberty, of Liberty enlightening 
the world!” 


After the benediction, spoken in French by Rev. Georges 
Lauga, the representative of the French Churches, the guests 
were entertained at tea in the hospitable home of Mrs. J. Starke, 
who gave the land on which the Ribaut monument stands. 





THE GATHERING AROUND THE RIBAUT MONUMENT 
AFTER THE DEDICATION, MAYPORT, MAY 1, 1924 


SoutTH CAROLINA 


The Tercentenary celebrations in South Carolina were con- 
ducted by the Huguenot Society of South Carolina. 

On May 3 the visitors were the guests of the officers of the 
South Carolina Huguenot Society at a dinner in the Hotel Francis 


38 


Marion. On Sunday morning a special service was held in the 
old Huguenot Church, at which M. Lauga preached the sermon 
and Dr. Macfarland and Rev. John Baer Stoudt assisted the 
pastor, Rev. Florian Vurpillot, and the congregation joined in the 
singing of well known Huguenot hymns. In the afternoon a 
pilgrimage was made to places of historic Huguenot interest near 
Charleston, among others, the site of the historic “Goose Creek” 
Church. 


Accompanied by nearly a score of the members of the Hugue- 
not Society of South Carolina, the visiting delegation went to 
Parris Island, the site of the second colony established by Jean 
Ribaut in 1562. Mutiny and sickness caused the abandonment 
of the colony, but a rude stockade built to withstand Indian at- 
tacks, was of such sound construction that its site was 
recently discovered by Col. John Millis of the United States 
Army. Gen. Eli K. Cole, Commandant of the United States 
Marine Corps now stationed on the island, caused the structure 
to be excavated and the great cedar logs which formed the beams 
and uprights were found to be practically intact throughout. Gen- 
eral Cole has had concrete markers set up over the old posts, 
serving the double purpose of preserving the logs from exposure 
and decay and showing plainly the outlines of the fort itself. 
It was to place the last marker, bearing a memorial tablet in brass, 
that the Tercentenary Commission and the various Huguenot 
societies visited Parris Island and assisted at the ceremony of 
marking this historic spot which holds the remains of what is 





Ree Sse oe 


MARKING THE RIBAUT FORT AT PARRIS ISLAND, S. C. 


39 


probably the oldest trace of the white man’s handiwork in this 
‘country. 

The official program started with an invocation by Lieut. 
Alfred de Groot Vogler, the post chaplain, followed by an ad- 
dress of welcome by General Cole, which was replied to on 
behalf of the Huguenot-Walloon Commission by Mr. Stoudt. 
‘Thomas W. Bacot, president of the Huguenot Society of South 
‘Carolina, delivered a brief address. 

The marker was then swung into place amid the applause of 
those present while the assembled regiment of United States 
Marines stood at salute and the bugles played the French Defile. 
‘The audience joined in the singing of “Faith of Our Fathers,” 
following which Mr. Stoudt, on behalf of the Huguenot Society 
of Pennsylvania, presented to General Cole the Huguenot Cross 
in recognition of his services in preserving to posterity a historic 
landmark of our early colonial period. 


WASHINGTON, D. C. 


Sunday, May 11th, was the date of the national memorial 
service in Washington, D. C. It took place in the Reformed 
Church of which President Roosevelt was a member, and was 
attended by Ambassador Jusserand of France, Ambassador de 





—Henry Miller News Picture Service, Inc. 


OBSERVING TERCENTENARY AT THE NATIONAL CAPITAL 
The Ambassadors of the three European Nations most interested in the Tercentenary and 
the foreign delegates. Left to right: Chaplain Georges Lauga, representing France and 
the French Protestant Churches; Jonkheer A. D. C. de Graeff, Minister of the Nether- 
lands; Baron de Cartier, the Belgian Ambassador; Jules J. Jusserand, Ambassador of 
France; and Pastor Leonard Hoyois, of Belgium. 


40 


Cartier of Belgium, and Dr. A. D. C. de Graeff, Minister of the 
Netherlands, as well as many other representatives of official 
Washington. M. Lauga preached the sermon, and Dr. Hoyois 
and Mr. Stoudt assisted the pastor, Rev. Henry H. Ranck, in the 
service, and brought brief messages of greeting. 


VALLEY FORGE 


The Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania, as its share in the 
Tercentenary, arranged a special meeting at the Memorial Chapel 
at Valley Forge, Pa. The chief speakers were the two foreign 
guests, Rev. Georges Lauga of France; Rev. Leonard Hoyois, 
who had in the meantime arrived from Belgium, representing the 
Belgian Churches and the municipality of Mons in the Province 
of Hainaut, and Dr. Macfarland who gave the historical address. 
Huguenot crosses were conferred upon Messrs. Lauga and Hoyois, 
Chaplain-in-Chief John T. Axton of the United States Army, 
Capt. Evan B. Scott, Chaplain-in-Chief of the United States 
Navy, and the Hon. Fred B. Gernerd, each of whom spoke briefly 
on subjects connected with the Tercentenary. 


THE NEw YorK PROGRAM 


The first event in the Tercentenary program of New York was 
the historical pilgrimage around Staten Island under the auspices 
of the Staten Island Historical Society and the local chapter of 
the Holland Society, held on Saturday, May 17, at 2:30 p. m. 
Autos bearing placards with the legend ‘““Huguenot-Walloon Ter- 
centenary, Staten Island Historical Pilgrimage’ awaited the 
guests at St. George and excellent police arrangements along the 
route showed the care with which the tour had been planned. 
At every landmark placards called attention to the Tercentenary 
and gave brief sketches of the history of the site marked. A 
short halt was made at the Perine House, recently purchased 
and restored by the Historical Society, and the guests were wel- 
comed by Charles W. Leng, the curator of the Staten Island 
Institute of Arts and Sciences and Mrs. C. E. Tefft, a 
member of the Institute. The president of the Staten Island 
Institute, the Hon. Howard R. Bayne, greeted the guests, 
a number of whom informally addressed the large gathering. 
Among those who spoke were Bishop James H. Darlington of 
Pennsylvania, M. Lauga, M. Hoyois, William T. Davis, President 
of the Staten Island Historical Society; Charles Newton Candee, 
of Toronto, Canada, a descendant of the Condé family, and 
Leander d’Entremont, a lineal descendant of Admiral Coligny of 
France. At 8:30 in the evening the Staten Island Institute held 
its annual meeting, its principal speaker, R. W. Vossburgh, de- 
voting his address to the Tercentenary. 


41 


Sunday, May 18, brought two exceedingly interesting and in- 
spiring services. First of all, 20 French athletes, from the 
French Y. M. C. A. and four ladies from the French Y. W. C. A., 
undertook to duplicate the “walk to Church” performed 300 years 
ago by the Huguenots of New Rochelle, when there was no 
Church in their settlement and they had to come to New Amster- 
dam to hear the Gospel preached. Eleven o’clock on Saturday 
night was the hour of starting from the City Hall of New Rochelle 
and promptly at 10:30 they marched into the French Evangelical 
Church in West Sixteenth Street, to be greeted by the pastor, Rev. 
Paul Elsesser, and the assembled congregation. The beautiful and 
impressive French service had drawn many visitors and the quaint 
building was packed. The principal features were the sermon in 
French by M. Lauga of the French Protestant Federation in 
Paris, and the singing of old Huguenot hymns by the well-trained 
choir. M. Hoyois, Dr. Macfarland, Bishop Darlington, Mr. 
Stoudt and Mr. Emile Twyeffort, who arranged the “hike” from 
New Rochelle, gave brief messages of greeting. 


In the afternoon the Tercentenary exercises once more shifted 
to Staten Island, to the dedication of the Huguenot Memorial 
Church in a memorable service. The building itself, designed by 
the noted architect, Ernest Flagg, was a revelation in its unique 
stone work, picturesque setting and beauty of line. Nearly all 
the Huguenot societies of America were represented. 


Dr. A. D. C. de Graeff, the Netherlands Minister, brought a 
warm message of sympathy from the Queen of the Netherlands, 
who expressed her gratification at the Tercentenary exercises and 
her recognition of the appropriateness of the designs on the Hu- 
guenot half dollar. He said: 


“T am convinced that no memorial for this celebration could 
please Her Majesty more than the erection of a Huguenot Church 
near the historical spot where three centuries ago the Dutch ship 
‘Nieu Nederland’ landed these sturdy Protestants who, escaping 
from religious persecutions, found shelter in Holland and after- 
wards offered their services to the Dutch West India Company 
in order to form part of the first batch of people who were shipped 
by this company to be settlers in the New World. Indeed, this 
Huguenot Church is the most fitting memorial, not only for the 
historic fact of the arrival in 1624 of the Dutch ship ‘Nieu 
Nederland,’ but also for the principles for which the people on 
board this ship stood and suffered.” 


The dedicatory service was, in part, as follows: 


Tue INvocaTION AND SALUTATION, Bishop Darlington 


ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE EDIFICE AS A NATIONAL MEMORIAL, by Rev. John 
Baer Stoudt, Director of the Tercentenary 


42 


PROCLAMATION 





WHEREAS, the people of the State of New York have the 
custom of commemorating the important events in its history, 
which celebrations are calculated to promote Barca ee and 
good will: and 


WHEREAS, the first colony sent out by the West India 
Company, chartered by the States General of the United 
Netherlands to make permanent settlements in New Netherland 
reached the FPudson River country in the Ship "New Netherland" 
in the month of May, 1624, the said colony consisting of 
thirty-two families, mostly Walloons; and 


WHEREAS, the Founding of the colony of New Netherland, 
now the State of New York, was one of the important steps in 
the making of America: 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Alfred E. Smith, Governor of the 
State of New York, do designate and set apart the month of 
May, 1924, for the observance of the Tercentenary of the 
Founding of New Netherland, and do hereby call upon the 
people of the State of New York to celebrate this important 


historical event with appropriate exercises and ceremonies 
in their schools, churches, civic bodies and municipalities. 


GIVEN under my hand and the 
Privy Seal of the State at the 
Capitol in the City of Albany 
this seventh day of January in 
the year of our Lord one 
thousand nine Hundred and 


twenty-four. 


BY THE GOVERNOR: Mtl 





Men Mena 


—_ 
Secyetary to the Governor. 


43 


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44 


Letter from President Coolidge 
Personal Greetings from 
—The representatives of participating countries: 
BARON DE CARTIER DE MARCHIENNE, Ambassador from Belgium 
Hon. JuLtes J. JusSERAND, Ambassador from France 
Hon. A. D. C. pe Graerr, Netherland Minister to the United States 
—The Reformed Church in America, by Rev. WM. I. CHAMBERLAIN, 
Pu.D., Chairman of General Synod’s Committee for the Tercente- 
nary 
—The Federal Council of Churches in America, by Rev. Cuartes S. 
MAcFARLAND, D.D. 
—The Greek Orthodox Church, by ArcHBISHOP ALEXANDER 
SERMON: By Rev. Henry Evertson Cobb, D.D., Vice-President of General 
Synod 
UNVEILING OF REFORMED CHURCH WINDOW 
By Mr. William L. Brower, Senior Elder of Collegiate Reformed 
Dutch Church 
PRESENTATION OF COMMUNION TABLE: 
By Mr. Cortlandt S. Van Renssaelaer, Chairman of Committee of 
Huguenot Society of America 
GREETINGS FROM NEW JERSEY AND PENNSYLVANIA HUGUENOT SOCIETIES: 
By Mr. John Lenord Merrill and Dr. George Fales Baker 
THE GiFTs OF THE DomeEsTIc Mission BoArps: 
By Mrs. John S. Allen 
UNVEILING oF MEMorRIAL CoLUMNS: In memory of 


Jesse de Forest David des Marest 
Pierre Billiou Pierre Baudouin and Christian Deyo 
John Jay Nicholas Bayard 


With greetings by ; 
Major Louis E. de Forest, of New York City 
The Hon. and Rey. William Prall, D.D. 
Hon. William Jay Schieffelin, President of Huguenot Society of 
America 
Rev. W. H. S. Demarest, D.D., LL.D., President of Rutgers College 
Judge Alphonso T. Clearwater, of Kingston, N. Y. 
Mr. R. Fulton Cutting, of New York City 
BENEDICTION, by Rev. Henry D. Frost, Pastor of Huguenot Church 


Commemorative functions of a more civic and _ historical, 
rather than religious character, were resumed on Monday, May 
19th, when the Huguenot League, a newly formed organization 
of several of the outstanding Huguenot Societies in the United 
States, met in the rooms of the Huguenot Society of America at 
2 West Forty-fifth Street at 3 p.m. This historic meeting, the 
first of its kind, was followed by a reception to the visiting dele- 
gates by the Huguenot Society of America in the Hotel Plaza, 
Dr. William Jay Schieffelin, President of the Society, and Miss 
Margaret A. Jackson, its Secretary, receiving the guests. 


DEDICATION OF THE WALLOON MONUMENT 
(May 18, 1924) 


The most notable civic event of the Tercentenary in New York 
was the dedication of the Hainaut Memorial, a monument to the 
Walloon pioneers of 1624, presented by the Belgian Province of 
Hainaut. Baron de Cartier de Marchienne, representing the 


45 


Belgian King and Government, presented the monument to Mayor 
John F. Hylan, for the City of New York, after the guests of 
honor had been received at the City Hall. The participants pro- 
ceeded to Battery Park, where the memorial had in the mean- 
time been erected. Immediately after the presentation address, 
Miss Priscilla Mary de Forest (aged three years), a descendant 
in the ninth generation of Jesse de Forest, pulled the cords which 
held the coverings of the monument, and revealed the plain shaft 
of stone, bearing the arms of Hainaut, and the inscription: 
PRESENTED TO THE CITY OF NEW YORK 
BY otis 
“CONSEIL PROVINCIAL DU HAINAUT” 
IN MEMORY OF THE WALLOON SETTLERS 
WHO CAME OVER TO AMERICA IN THE 
“NIEU NEDERLAND” UNDER THE 
INSPIRATION OF JESSE DE FOREST OF 
AVESNES THEN COUNTY OF HAINAUT 
ONE OF THE XVII PROVINCES 





a BS 5 2 OS . a : 
UNVEILING THE WALLOON MONUMENT IN NEW YORK 
In foreground, Mayor John F. Hylan and M. Hoyois 





A plain band of oak leaves is chiseled into the stone above the 
lettering; the base has the figures 1624-1924, and contains a 
casket of earth from the Province of Hainaut. Baron de Cartier’s 
address of presentation and the acceptance by Mayor Hylan were 
frequently interrupted by bursts of applause from the immense 
crowd which had been attracted by the ceremony. 

The benediction was pronounced by Rev. Lauga in French, 
after which the band played the National Anthems of the United 
States and Belgium, concluding the program. 


46 


M. Hoyois, representing the municipality of Mons, presented 
to the Mayor a silver medal struck for the occasion, and a parch- 
ment address, beautifully illuminated and contained in an orna- 
mental leather case. 

Further brief addresses were made by the Hon. Francis D. 
Gallatin, President of the Park Board of the City of New York; 
Mr. Robert W. de Forest, Chairman of the Huguenot-Walloon 
New Netherland Commission, and the Hon. Frank L. Polk, of 
the Society of the “Friends of Belgium.” The rendering of 
National Anthems by the One Hundred and Sixth Regiment Band, 
as the troops stood at attention, closed the program. The bene- 
diction was pronounced by Rev. Georges Lauga, who also pre- 
sented a message from Ambassador Jusserand, of France, and 
from the Hon. Gaston Doumergue, President of the French 
Senate (now President of France). 

At a dinner given in his honor the same evening at the Uni- 
versity Club, Ambassador de Cartier made Mr. Robert W. de 
Forest, the Chairman of the Huguenot-Walloon New Netherland 
Commission, a Commander of the Order of Leopold, in recogni- 
tion of his services to the Beligan nation. 


ASSEMBLY AT CITY COLLEGE 


The College of the City of New York held a special com- 
memorative assembly in honor of the Tercentenary on May 22, 
on which occasion the Chairman of the Executive Committee of 
the Huguenot-Walloon Commission, Dr. Macfarland, delivered 
the principal address. The Belgian Ambassador, amid the en- 
thusiastic applause of the students and guests, bestowed decorations 
from the Royal Belgian Government, upon both Dr. Macfarland 
and Rev. John Baer Stoudt, the Director of the Tercentenary 
Commission. 


New ROCHELLE 


The Huguenot Society of New Rochelle entertained a delega- 
tion from the Commission, and the foreign guests, at a reception 
in the Thomas Paine Memorial House at New Rochelle. After 
the formal function, the guests were taken to various places of 
historic interest in the city under the guidance of Mr. Flandreaux, 
the Secretary of the Society. 


NEW @PATLTZ, oN 4 Yo 


Another old Huguenot town to stage special exercises was 
New Paltz, New York. A historic pageant illustrative of early 
local history was performed by the students of the New Paltz 
High School, the scenes being laid where the actual events oc- 
curred nearly three hundred years before. 


47 


THE TERCENTENARY OF ALBANY 


Religious and civic exercises extending over 3 days, marked 
the 300th birthday of the city of Albany. A pageant “The Land- 
ing of the Walloons’” drew thousands of spectators to the banks 
of the Hudson. The special memorial medal issued for the event 
shows the first seal of the Province. A great water festival con- 
cluded the celebrations on June 3rd. 


CELEBRATIONS ABROAD 


During the week in May when the New York celebrations 
reached their climax, the European Committees in France and 
Belgium held special Tercentenary meetings largely attended by 
religious and civil authorities and honored by the presence of 
official representatives of their respective national governments. 
Messages of greeting were received from most of the European 
groups. 

BARON DE CARTIER’S ADDRESS 
(Battery Park, May 18) 


“We are gathered together here today to commemorate 
one of the earliest and most significant events in the history of 
the friendly intercourse between Belgium and America. 


“Three hundred years ago a small group of my compatriots 
arrived at the mouth of the Hudson, seeking to establish new 
homes in a land where they might enjoy a greater measure of 
freedom than could, at that period, be found anywhere in the 
Old World. 

“These Belgians came under 
the protection of the friendly flag 
of the Dutch Republic, in the 
West India Company ship the 
Nieu Nederland. They were ac- 
companied by some of their 
French neighbors, Huguenots, 
from the northern provinces of 
France. 


“Historians, such as John De 
Laet and Wassenaer, tell us that 
this little band of pilgrims who 
had enjoyed the generous hos- 
pitality of their co-religionists in 
Leyden and elsewhere in Hol- 
land, and who were to be the first 
ae home - builders on Manhattan 
BARON pr CARTIER ve MARCHIENNE Island, consisted of about thirty 
Belgian Ambassador to the U. S. families, mostly Walloons from 


48 





the Belgian province of Hainaut. Today, therefore, it is specially 
fitting that the people of Belgium should pay tribute to the 
memory of their fellow-countrymen whom Providence led to 
play an historic part in the beginning of the first permanent 
settlement of the great city of New York. 

“Men of many creeds and many nationalities have had their 
part in the early settlement of America. To each is due his meed 
of praise according to his works, but it is the American people 
themselves to whom is due the glory of having, under God’s 
guidance, made America the great country that it is today. 

“Nevertheless, it is no small honor to a nation to have con- 
tributed, in however modest a way, to the early settlement of this 
mighty metropolis. 

“Tt is, therefore, with a proper and just pride that the whole 
Belgian Nation, all our people, of every creed and from every 
one of our nine provinces, from our beloved King to the most 
humble of his subjects, join in this commemoration of the landing 
of their fellow-countrymen on Manhattan Island. 

“Those Belgians, who came to your shores three hundred years 
ago, under the inspiration of Jesse de Forest, brought with them 
but little of this world’s goods, but they brought brave hearts 
and strong and willing hands. Above all, they brought that 
sincere loye of civil and religious liberty which is the heritage 
of all our race. Those who remained behind in Belgium, were 
no less imbued with the love of freedom. 


“From time to time the Torch of Liberty has seemed, with us, 
almost extinguished, as under the Roman conquest, as under the 
despotism of Philip the Second of Spain, as under the late 
German invasion, but we have fought the good fight, we have 
kept the faith, and we are still today, thank God, a free and 
independent people under the leadership of one of the bravest, 
greatest and most beloved kings who ever graced a throne. 


“We are proud to know that, however little or however much 
those Belgian pioneers may have contributed to the making of 
America, they brought in their hearts that love of freedom which 
alone could make them worthy to participate in the foundation of 
a country whose very name stands as the synonym of Liberty. 

“As those Belgian pioneers came chiefly from the Province of 
Hainaut, their fellow-countrymen of that province wish to pay a 
special tribute to their memory, and at the same time to give a 
token of their friendship to America, by presenting to your City 
a monument to be set up as a lasting memorial of the landing 
of the Walloon-Huguenots on Manhattan Island. 

“For this purpose the Province of Hainaut has sent this com- 
memorative stone, carved and fashioned from the granite of 
Hainaut by the sons of Hainaut, and contained in a coffer of 


49 


Hainaut metal a handful of the soil of Hainaut—the native soil 
of these Belgians who had the good fortune to be numbered 
among the first citizens of your great city. 

“On behalf of the Provincial Council of the Province of 
Hainaut, I have the honor to present this memorial to the City 
of New York. 

“T also have the honor, on behalf of the Belgian Government, 
to communicate to the Committee which has organized this Ter- 
centenary Celebration the following message from Mr. Hymans, 
Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs: 

“On this three-hundredth anniversary of the arrival ie my 
compatriots in America, I gladly avail myself of the opportunity 
to convey my cordial greetings to the Committee whose dis- 
tinguished members have so brilliantly succeeded in celebrating 
the memory of one of the most interesting features of the found- 
ing of this great Republic. 

““T congratulate them on the great success which has crowned 
their efforts, and I hope that the memory of the event which has 
connected the name of Belgium with the birth of your glorious 
city of New York may be ever perpetuated in the annals of history. 

““Our two countries, which are already so happily connected 
by ties of blood, of mutual intercourse, and of friendship, will, 
I am confident, be even more closely united by the memory of the 
historic event which your Committee has evoked by this Ter- 
centenary Celebration.’ 

“His Majesty King Albert would have liked to be present on 
this occasion, but unfortunately affairs of State have made it im- 
impossible for him to accept the cordial invitation extended him 
by His Excellency the Governor of New York. 

“In these circumstances His Majesty has been graciously 
pleased to appoint me as his special representative at these cere- 
monies and has instructed me to read to you, in his name, the 
following message: 

““Tt gives me great pleasure to join in this celebration which 
perpetuates the memory of the many spiritual ties which for 
generations have united our two nations animated by the same 
ideals of Justice, of Liberty and peaceful Progress. 

““The bonds of friendship between America and Belgium 
have been still further confirmed and strengthened in recent years , 
by many circumstances, and especially by the gratitude of the 
Belgian people for the generous aid given to them by the Com- 
mission for Relief in Belgium, under the guidance of Mr. Herbert 
Hoover. 

“*The Belgian Nation will never forget the moral support as 
well as the material aid thus given them, nor will they ever forget 
the heroism of the American soldiers who fought in Belgium side 
by side with our troops. The memory of their brave deeds will 


50 


always remain green in our hearts and the graves of those that 
fell on our soil will always be hallowed ground. 

“Belgium is glad to participate in such a great historical event 
as the founding of the City of New York, where the Queen and 
I were so cordially received during our visit to the United States. 

“<The Belgian people are happy that this new opportunity is 
given to them to express their unalterable friendship and deep 
gratitude to the great American Nation.’ 

“As His Majesty says in his message, we are bound to your 
country by many ties. Of gratitude—we Belgians will never forget 
the generous help extended to our famished civilian population 
by that magnificent work of life-saving headed by that organizing 
genius, Herbert Hoover, when through his efforts the Commis- 
sion for Relief in Belgium successfully started on its career of 
rescuing from famine the ten million inhabitants of Belgium and 
northern France. 

“Of friendship—when your leading citizens all over this mighty 
country raised their voices, and none more eloquent than Mr. de 
Forest’s, in protest against the deportations of our patriotic work- 
ingmen who refused to slave for the invader. 

“Of comradeship-in-arms—when your brave soldiers, and none 
more valiant than those of the 27th Division, represented here 
today by the gallant 106th Regiment, joined our troops in Flanders 
Fields, and brought decisive victory to the Allied Cause. 

“For all these reasons you may well understand that the friend- 
ship of America is one of Belgium’s most cherished possessions. 

“We are proud to think that our people have had, at least, 
some small part in the founding of your great city, and we trust 
that the cordial relations so happily existing now between Belgium 
and America will flourish forever and ever.” 





M. Hovots’s ADDRESS 


“T represent here today the Belgian Protestant Church 
Federation and also the Burgomaster of the City of Mons. I 
bring to you heartiest greetings and best wishes from Belgium. 
“We are proud to remember that settlers from our province of 
Hainaut have contributed to the settling of New York, and I feel 
it is a very great honor for me, a Walloon, to have been sent to 
your country for the celebration of the third centenary of your 
city. 

“The first Belgian settlers in New York State were strictly 
religious. They were fleeing the sacerdotal and royal despotisms 
of Rome and Spain. They brought to the New World the spirit 
of liberty and the traditions of political freedom which had 
developed in the Middle Ages in the rich cities of Flanders, 
Brabant, Leige and Hainaut. 


51 





REV. LEONARD HOYOIS 


Representative of the Belgian Churches 
and the Burgomaster of Mons 


“The links between you and us 
are numerous, and even more so 
since the Great War—1914-1918. 
We do not forget in Belgium 
what you have done for us when 
our beloved native land was in- 
vaded by the enemy, and I am 
glad of the opportunity to tell you 
here today of the deep gratitude 
of the Belgian population, and es- 
pecially of our Protestant Church 
Federation and of the City of 
Mons. This memorial stone will 
remind you always of our prov- 
ince of Hainaut as well as the 
whole of Belgium. We trust that 
the prosperity of your country, 
and of this City of New York, 
will continue, not only the ma- 
terial prosperity, but above all 


the prosperity which comes from Justice, Freedom and Charity.” 


M. Lauca’s MESSAGE 


“Seven years ago I came to this country on a mission. My 
experiences were so pleasant that I rejoice in having been chosen 





REV. GEORGES LAUGA 


(Former Chaplain in the French Army) 
Representative of the French Protestant 
Federation. 


by France as a delegate to the three 
hundredth anniversary of the com- 
ing of the Huguenots. I myself 
am of old Huguenot stock—a 
Bearnaise by birth. 


“Our churches in France have a 
deep desire to unite with you in 
honoring those who led our ances- 
tors to your land of freedom. You 
are paying a wonderful tribute to 
one of the sons of France, Admiral 
Gaspard de Coligny, who in the 
sixteenth century turned his eyes. 
toward these distant shores as a 
God-appointed land of freedom 
and life. Under his inspiration 
French exiles landed on the coast 
of Brazil and the broad territories. 
now occupied by Florida, South. 
Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jer- 
sey and New York. Of Florida: 


52 


fame are Laudonnierre and Jean Ribaut, valiant sailor of Dieppe. 
France does not forget her heroes. One of our important streets 
bears the name of Ribaut. 

“Tens of thousands followed these spirited Huguenots, among 
them Jesse de Forest who played an important part in settling the 
island of Manhattan, though he himself did not live to see its 
shores. His love of independence, his ideal of liberty continued 
after him. Pilgrims, Puritans and Huguenots were all inspired 
by the same burning flame. All those who afterwards cooperated 
in the building of America and all other nations were blessed in 
them. 

“France is especially proud to claim a share in the glory of 
your early pioneers. We have set aside days of commemoration 
in France this month and are looking forward to the coming of 
our American friends who in connection with the Huguenot pil- 
grimage tour will visit Paris, the Mons of Coligny, and all those 
historic towns out of which came so many of the earliest settlers 
—the fathers of so many of your best citizens. 

“T am bringing you an official letter from Gaston Doumergue, 
president of the French senate, with best wishes for the success 
of the Tercentenary. Also I have been instructed to tell you 
that he is preparing a special welcome for the delegation which 
will visit France this summer. 

“France and America have been closely bound together in the 
centuries past. May they continue to serve together, helping one 
another and working for the peace of the world.” 





Translation of letter from Gaston Doumergue, President of French 
Senate, to Dr. Chas. Macfarland, brought by Georges Lauga 


April 20, 1924 
Dr. Charles S. Macfarland, 
Chairman of Executive Committee. 


My dear Mr. Chairman: 


M. Fuzier has informed me of your very kind letter and of the wish of the 
Huguenot-Walloon New Netherland Commission that I come to America to bring to 
the people of the United States on the occasion of the Tercentenary of the arrival of 
the first Huguenot-Walloons in America, a message of friendship from the French 
people. 

I would have been very happy to defer to this wish in accepting your very 
courteous and flattering invitation. Unfortunately, it is absolutely impossible for me 
to absent myself from France this year. I deeply regret this because I should have 
valued an opportunity to express to your compatriots the feeling of strong and sincere 
friendship which my fellow citizens have for them. I should also have been greatly 
pleased to tell them that in the present state of affairs the abiding friendship of our 
two great peoples, united by numerous and glorious memories, animated by the same 
generous aspirations and by the same love of Justice, is indispensable not only to 
their mutual interest, but also to the prosperity and the peace of the world. 

Please accept, Mr. Chairman, for yourself and the members of your Commission, 
the assurance of my profound esteem and highest regard. 

GASTON DOUMERGUE 


53 


THE MESSAGE [OQ THE, QUBEN OFslHf 
NETHERLANDS 


(Personally presented by the Chairman of the Executive Committee in 1922) 


The Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Commission, instituted 
by the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, in 
cooperation with the Huguenot Societies of America, presents 
greetings to her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, and re- 
spectfully invites her and her people to participate in the tercen- 
tenary celebration of the founding of New York and of the Middle 
States by the Walloons under the Dutch West India Company 
in 1624. 

The United States and Holland stand side by side in history 
as lands of freedom, but we in America are not unmindful of 
the fact that the freedom of The Netherlands preceded and 
underlies the freedom of America. The faith of the Huguenots 
and the liberties of The Netherlands are the two great sources of 
the ideals of our American Republic. 


Religious freedom has become one of the chief corner-stones 
of good government. This most important principle was brought 
to America by Dutch settlers and other settlers like the Walloons 
and Pilgrims, and Huguenots who had experienced religious free- 
dom while refugees in Holland. 


It was the illustrious ancestor of Her Majesty, Admiral de 
Coligny, who first conceived the grand plan of settling Protestants 
in America, and thus create in the newly-found lands, a great 
Protestant commonwealth. Though cruel fate prevented him 
from carrying out his project, it nevertheless became a reality, 
and today his spirit pervades the great American Republic. 

The purpose of the celebration in May, 1924, is to give proper 
recognition to the part that Her Majesty’s ancestor, Admiral de 
Coligny, the Huguenots, and Walloons, and the people of The 
Netherlands had in the founding of the Republic of the United 
States of America. 


The Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Commission has elected 
Her Gracious Majesty to the office of Honorary Vice-Chairman 
of the Commission, and prays that She may honor the Commis- 
sion with Her acceptance. 


The Commission has delegated the Reverend Charles S. Mac- 
farland to personally convey these greetings and this invitation 
to Her Majesty. 

Ropert W. pdE Forest, 

Chairman of the Commission. 
CHARLES S. MACFARLAND, 

Chairman of the Executive Committee. 
JoHN BAER Stoupt, 

Secretary and Director. 


54 


THESMESSAG ESTO «LUE KING OF THE BELGIANS 


The Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Commission of the Fed- 
eral Council of the Churches of Christ in America, and the 
Huguenot Societies of America, present greetings to His Majesty, 
Albert, King of the Belgians, and respectfully invite Him and 
His people to participate in the tercentenary celebration of the 
founding of New York and the Middle States by Walloons under 
the Dutch West India Company in 1624. 

Although we usually do not include the Kingdom of Belgium 
among the older nations of Europe, we have, however, come to 
regard the Belgians as a people of high ideals and stout hearts. 
It is with pleasure that we recall the encomium spoken by Julius 
Caesar in his commentaries of the Belgians—‘Horum omnium 
fortissimi sunt Belgae.” 

What this ancient warrior wrote in his commentaries is now, 
after many centuries, proclaimed from the house-tops by the 
liberty-loving people of the world—“Of all of them the Belgians 
were the bravest.” 

There is, however, a debt which the Americans owe to the 
Belgians other than that of the preservation of the freedom of 
the world, a debt scarcely recognized in spite of its great im- 
portance. It is the part played by Walloons in the founding of 
America. 

In 1624 a company of Walloons became the first home-builders 
in that populous section of the United States lying between the 
rivers of the Connecticut and the Delaware, in which are found 
the two great cities of New York and Philadelphia. They gave 
to their new home the name of New Belgium, and their first 
Governor was Peter Minuit, a Walloon. 

It is with pride that we recall that within the part of our 
country which was originally called New Belgium, the Declaration 
of Independence, the flag of our country, and the Constitution of 
the United States, had their birth; and from its ports our soldiers 
sailed to take part in the great conflict in which Belgium covered 
herself with eternal glory. 

The Huguenot-Walloon Commission, in the observance of this 
important tercentenary, wishes to give proper recognition to the 
important part which the Walloon had in the.,founding of America. 

The Commission has elected His Majesty to the office of 
Honorary Vice-Chairman of the Commission, and prays that He 
may honor the Commission with His acceptance and has dele- 
gated the Rev. Charles S. Macfarland to personally convey these 
greetings and this message to His Majesty. 

Rospert W. DE Forest, Chairman. 


CHARLES S. MACFARLAND, Chairman, Executive Committee. 
JoHN BAER Stoupt, Director. 


July 18, 1922 
55 


THE MESSAGE TO THE FRENCH PRESIDENT. 


July, 1922 


The Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Commission presents 
greetings to His Excellency, the President of the French Republic, 
and graciously invites him and the people of France to participate 
in the tercentenary celebration of the founding of New York and 
the Middle States by Huguenots under the Dutch India Company 
in 1624. 

Of the Huguenots it has been well said: “There have been 
few people on earth so upright and single minded, so faithful 
in the discharge of their duties toward God and man, so elevated 
in aim, so dignified in character. The enlightened, independent, 
firm, God fearing spirit of the Huguenots has blended its in- 
fluence with that of the Puritan to form our national character 
and to establish those civil and religious institutions, by which we 
are distinguished and blessed above all peoples.” So skilled were 
they in the arts, such a spirit of economy and thrift characterized 
them, such loyalty had they to the principles of our national 
life, such sane and tolerant views in religious matters, such up- 
rightness and excellence and nobility of character, such high and 
commanding genius in statesmanship, that their presence, even 
though they formed but a small body as to numbers and were so 
assimilated as to sink their identity in the common body, exerted 
a moulding and ennobling influence upon the entire fabric of 
our national life. Deserving of high honor are Puritan and 
Pilgrim, and we in 1920 celebrated the Pilgrim Tercentenary to 
which celebration France contributed by sending representatives. 

Let orator and historian continue to sound their praises. But 
side by side with them, sharers in their sufferings, partakers of 
their perils, distinguished helpers in their great labors, stimulat- 
ing and inspiring, stood a smaller company whose life and deeds 
and spirit were also very important factors in giving our land 
those institutions of civil and religious liberty by means of which 
she is steadily fulfilling her high mission and successfully work- 
ing out her great destiny. 

To give proper recognition to the important part the Hugue- 
nots had in the making of America is the purpose of this Ter- 
centenary Celebration. Here is a basis for mutual trust and 
confidence, deeper than that of diplomatic conferences, far-reach- 
ing though they may be. 

The Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Commission elected you 
as one of its Honorary Chairmen and we pray that we may have 
your kindly acceptance. 


Ropert W. DE Forest, Chairman. 
CHARLES S. MACFARLAND, Chairman, Executive Comnuttee. 
JouN Baer Stoupt, Director. 


56 


THE, LEADERS IN THE TERCENTENARY 
CELEBRATIONS ABROAD 


© 





GASTON DOUMERGUE REV. ANDRE MONOD 
President of the French Republic Secretary French Protestant Committee 





REV. ADOLF KELLER REV. PIERRE BLOMMAERT 


Secretary Federation of Swiss Chaplain in Chief of Protestant 
Protestant Churches Chaplains, Belgian Army 


57 


A HUGUENOT PILGRIMAGE IN EUROPE 


\\ 


UMEROUS indeed have been the pilgrimages abroad 
by Roman Catholics from this country, but of similar 
/| voyages by Protestants there had, until this summer, 
yD been none that included, comprehensively, the .out- 

s standing Protestant centers of Europe. The Hugue- 
not pies was the closing event of the celebrations com- 
memorating the three-hundredth anniversary of the landing in 
America of the first Huguenot-Walloons in 1624. 


Not only were the members of the Pilgrimage enthusiastically 
welcomed by their brethren in the faith, but national and civic 
authorities everywhere participated in the event. 


The delegation went first to visit the Huguenot congregation 
which has had its place of worship in the crypt of Canterbury 
Cathedral since about 1550. In Leyden, the “City of Refuge” 
for the scattered groups of Walloons and French Huguenots 
fleeing from religious persecutions, the Pilgrims were received by 
the municipal officials and by the Leyden Pilgrim Fathers’ Society. 
The memory of William the Silent was honored by a visit to his 
tomb at Delft. 


From the Netherlands the Pilgrims went via Worms and 
Heidelberg to Strasbourg to participate in the union patriotic 
service at one of the Lutheran Churches on July 14, the great 
French national holiday. Part of the delegation spent the pre- 
ceding Sunday in Strasbourg, attending the special Tercentenary 
service at the Reformed Church, while the rest accompanied the 
Director to Chateau-Thierry, where the memorial Church was 


WY 
Gael 
\ 








HUGUENOT CRYPT IN CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL 
58 


hs Wah i 





PIETERSKERK, LEYDEN 





INTERIOR OF CHURCH AT CHATEAU THIERRY, SHOWING MEMORIAL 
PULPIT DEDICATED TO AMERICAN CHAPLAINS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES 
IN WORLD WAR. 


59 


dedicated with impressive ceremonies on July 13th. A group of 
the “Pilgrims” was also present at the dedication of the memorial 
Church at Compiegne. 

In Zurich the program included a reception in the historic St. 
Peter’s Church and a visit to the Museum of the Reformation. An 
impressive ceremony in the Cathedral of St. Peter marked the 
celebrations at Geneva, where the Pilgrimage was also officially 
received by the staff of the League of Nations. 

The Pilgrimage next paid a visit to the Waldensian valleys 
of Italy, arriving Sunday, July 27. At Torre Pellice, the Wal- 
densian capital, the members were officially received in the “Casa 
Valdese” and participated in the worship at the Waldensian 
Church, both the Director and Dr. W. W. Leete, one of the 
“Pilgrims,” making brief addresses, the latter in Italian. At 
Bobbio Pellice the Monument of the Martyrs was visited, on 
which occasion the Director and the Chairman of the Executive 
Committee were awarded certificates as honorary members of 
the Waldensian Historical Society. 

With its arrival at Nimes, where it was warmly greeted by the 
local committee, the Pilgrimage penetrated into what is really the 
heart of the Huguenot region of France—the gateway to the 
Cevennes, and the “Huguenot Desert.’ Very naturally interest in 
the Pilgrimage was very keen throughout this section of France, 
and huge crowds gathered at the Musée du Désert, the Tower of 





ae! 
THE MONUMENT TO THE REFORMATION AT GENEVA 
shows ten heroic statues of leading figures in the Reformation and, in between, the 
pictures of important events that marked the period. Four statues are grouped in the 


central portion—Calvin, Farel, Beze and Knox. Six other figures appear. They are. 
in order from the left: Frederic-Guillaume, the Great Elector; William the Silent, 
Prince of Orange; Admiral de Coligny; Roger Williams; Oliver Cromwell, 
and Etienne de Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania. 


60 





HOME OF THE WALDENSIAN SYNOD AT TORRE PELLICE 


Constance, Montpellier and other places famous in Huguenot lore. 
The celebration at the Musée du Desert received added impres- 
siveness from the fact that it was held in front of the building 
in the open air, the surrounding hills forming a natural amphi- 
theatre. Chief Justice Sarraut, President of the French Supreme 
Court, presided. At the exercises in the Theological Seminary 
at Montpellier the Director of the Tercentenary received the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Protestant Faculty. After 
brief halts at Carcassonne, Montauban and Bordeaux, where in 
each case they were met with the greatest goodwill by the popu- 
lation, the Pilgrims were received in La Rochelle, the most 
famous of the Huguenot strongholds, the city so notably asso- 
ciated with the struggle for religious liberty in France. 


The exercises in Paris were the culmination of the Tercen- 
tenary celebration in France. The greatest interest had been 
taken by religious and civic authorities in this event, the historical 
background of which presented an entirely new angle in both 
French and American history. The more strictly Huguenot end 
of the program included a reception by the French Protestant 
Federation at the French Protestant Headquarters in the Rue de 
Clichy, another by the French Protestant Historical Society and 
the Comité Protestant des Amitiés Francaises at the library and 
museum of the Historical Society, a gathering in the Church of 
the Oratoire and a visit to the Huguenot monuments in Paris. 
The principal civic function took place on August 19, when the 
Huguenot delegation was received by President Doumergue at 
the Chateau Rambouillet, the historic summer home of the French 
presidents. The party was introduced by M. Paul Fusier, Coun- 
sellor of State, and the Rev. André Monod, of the Protestant 
Federation. The Director of the Tercentenary was presented with 
the cross of the Legion of Honor by President Doumergue, who 
was then presented with a letter informing him of his election as 


61 


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(sapjjop {jpy Joisowmaut qouanbnyT fo auo Burgdasan umoys si quapisatq ay [) 
TINOH SIH LV NOILLVDUTAAC LONANDOOH AHL SAATAOAN AONVUA AO ANOAAWNOG INACISAAd 


sojoyd pi4oy, apry, sawmay &sazinoy— 





oy 


62 


an honorary member of the Huguenot Society of Pennsylvania, 
and also received the society’s insignia, the Huguenot cross. 

A trip to the battlefields included visits to the Protestant 
Churches of Rheims, St. Quentin and Verdun, all three of which 
have been reconstructed under the direction of the Federal Coun- 
cil’s Commission. At Noyon the Pilgrims saw the birthplace of 
Calvin, the founder of the Reformed Churches. 

On Friday, August 22, the delegation went to Avesnes where 
they attended the unveiling of a monument to Jesse de Forest, 
who was a native of that city. A great popular demonstration 
marked the dedication which was attended by high French off- 
cials who assisted the Mayor of the city, the Prefect of the dis- 
trict and Senator Pasqual. Dr. Macfarland made the dedicatory 
address. The monument itself is a duplicate of that presented 
to New York City by the Province of Hainaut and dedicated 
during the Tercentenary celebrations there which took place in 
May. The rebuilt college as well as the main avenue of the city 
will bear the name of Jesse de Forest. 

A most effective termination to the Tercentenary Pilgrimage 
was made by the commemorative exercises in Belgium, notably 
Brussels and Mons, the provincial capital of Hainaut. The tardy 
recognition of the part played by the Walloon element in the 
early settlement very naturally awakened the keenest interest 
among the Belgian people, giving:a civic and national character 
to the celebrations. The Huguenot element in Belgium today is 
relatively small, but the fact that the first colony to settle in the 
Middle States of America consisted of Walloons, the stock which 
forms roughly half of the Belgian population today, made a 





UNVEILING OF HUGUENOT-WALLOON MONUMENT AT AVESNES, FRANCE 
63 


tremendous appeal to the popular imagination and attracted the 
widest interest in governmental and intellectual circles. Formal 
receptions were held at the American Embassy and the offices of 
the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs. An impressive public 
gathering took place at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the 
religious side of the anniversary being recognized by a special 
service in the National Belgian Protestant Church, when the 
sermon was preached by Chief Chaplain Pierre Blommaert of 
the Belgian Army. 

It is not always easy to sum up at close range the effect and 
ultimate value of such an undertaking as this Huguenot Pil- 
grimage to the Protestant centers of Europe, but it is certain 
that the Pilgrimage, more than any other feature of the anniversary 
exercises, has achieved in Europe what the celebrations all along 
the Atlantic Coast and throughout the Middle States have effected 
in America—a revival of interest in a period of history about 
which, it seemed for a long time, nothing new remained to be 
said. There, as here, a chapter of history which had been lost 
has been replaced and a new element, the Walloons, has been 
added to the Honor Roll of the peoples who shared in the humble 
but heroic beginnings of what is now a mighty nation, reaching 
across a huge continent, the very existence of which was not 
recognized when Jesse de Forest led his first scouting expedition 
to seek a place of settlement “somewhere in West India.” 





RECEPTION OF THE PILGRIMAGE AT MONS, BELGIUM, BY THE 
BURGOMASTER AND MUNICIPAL COUNCIL 


64 





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Ae TOA Ge 





Hs Mi . he nt 


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